This past Saturday afternoon at the CDLA Annual Awards Luncheon, President Richard Middlebrook presented awards to two of our distinguished and accomplished members.
PRESIDENT’S AWARD
The President's Award is given to a CDLA member in recognition of steadfast commitment to CDLA and to freedom, and for outstanding efforts in defending the accused that zealously guard our Constitutional rights.
The recipient of this award has devoted countless hours this year providing financial reports at all Board meetings, monitoring our checking account, and dealing with various financial changes during the past 12 months.
The 2025 President's Award was presented to CDLA Treasurer Philip Gagnon.
EDWARD KUWATCH LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD
CDLA's highest award is given annually to a CDLA member who, over an extended period of time, has made significant contributions to the mission, goals, and growth of CDLA and who has had a substantial positive impact in the lives of hundreds of clients accused of driving under the influence and related offenses in his or her legal career.
· The CDLA member selected for this award has represented more than 7,000 individuals charged with DUI since 1985.
· He has been the lead counsel in more than 130 DUI jury trials in his 40-year career, and he is widely known and respected by prosecutors and judges as a tenacious advocate for his clients.
· He regularly attends the annual National College of DUI Defense (NCDD) seminar presented at Harvard Law School on DUI defense, and he is Dean Emeritus of the NCDD after having served for 12 years on its Board of Regents.
· He has co-authored the two-volume treatise California Drunk Driving Law since 2004 and is a graduate of the University of Indiana's comprehensive course on chemical testing and scientific protocols in DUI cases.
The 2025 Edward Kuwatch Lifetime Achievement Award recipient was presented to Paul Burglin.
Please extend your congratulations to Philip and Paul for receiving these prestigious CDLA awards.