Preston Tisdale of Koskoff, Koskoff & Bieder (Courtesy photo)

Koskoff's Tisdale Named Secretary of Public Justice Foundation

Attorney Preston C. Tisdale of Bridgeport's Koskoff Koskoff & Bieder has been named secretary-elect of the Washington, D.C.-based Public Justice Foundation, and will be installed July 29 at the USS Midway Museum in San Diego.

“Preston's commitment to social justice makes him an ideal addition to the leadership on the Public Justice Board and I am honored to serve with him,” said Beth Terrell, president-elect of the foundation.

Outgoing president Michael L. Pitt said Tisdale's “passion for civil rights, access to the courts and protecting everyday people from corporate and governmental abuse will greatly advance our mission. We are fortunate to have Preston as part of our leadership team.”

The Public Justice Foundation has been involved in civil rights cases, anti-bullying campaigns, consumer rights, gender and sexual rights for the past 35 years.

“I look forward to many lively and important discussions of significant national policy issues,” said Tisdale. “In the coming months we will explore new avenues to help people who have been wronged: by deceptive pharmaceutical companies, irresponsible manufacturers, unjust employers, inhumane government detention centers, reckless polluters, and others.

“All citizens deserve unfettered access to the court system and the hope of obtaining justice,” Tisdale added. “It's an honor to be part of the leadership of an organization that helps provide those rights.”

Tisdale received his JD at the New York University School of Law and his undergraduate degree from Brown University, where he majored in public policy. In 2015, he began his tenure as the President of the Brown Alumni Association and as a member of the Corporation of Brown University's Board of Trustees. In 2011, he received Brown University's first Joseph M. Fernandez '85 Award for bringing diverse alumni together to make a positive contribution to the University community.

Tisdale has served as a member of the Connecticut Commission on Racial and Ethnic Disparity since its inception and previously served on the Connecticut Supreme Court Chief Justice's Criminal Justice Committee and the Connecticut Hate Crimes Advisory Committee.

DVCC Legal Director Joins Fairfield County Bar Board

The Domestic Violence Crisis Center's legal director, Pamela Davis, has been appointed to the Fairfield County Bar Association Board of Directors effective May 2019. Part of the 25-member board's mission is to encourage cordial relations among members of the Bar as well as cooperation with state and national agencies and organizations.

The DVCC is a member of the Connecticut Coalition Against Domestic Violence and provides services to 4,000 people per year in the Stamford-Norwalk area. DVCC is the only agency present at domestic violence arraignments in the Stamford and Norwalk courthouses representing the victim with confidential legal advocacy. In addition, the agency provides safe housing, individual and group counseling services, sustainability services and preventive education.

“This new association with DVCC and FCBA will benefit both organizations,” Davis said. “Many of the 850 lawyers, court clerks, law students, legal administrators, paralegals and other professionals in the Bar Association are on the front lines when it comes to domestic violence. … With multiple fatalities in southern Fairfield County in past six months alone, there is no better time than now to raise awareness of the services available to people experiencing domestic violence.”

With domestic violence the No. 1 emergency call in the towns of New Canaan, Darien, Westport, Weston and Wilton, Davis supervises and directs DVCC attorney advocates and family violence advocates, providing free, confidential services to victims. She appears in civil and criminal court, collaborates with town law enforcement special victims' unit liaisons, judges, and family relation counselors in civil and criminal court. She also supervises pro-bono attorney volunteers, and represents victims at hearings for civil restraining orders, dissolution, child support and custody.

The English-language crisis hotline for the DVCC is 203-588-9096. In Spanish, 203-663-6641.