Darryl AlbertStudent

Darryl Albert is one of those few people that will do anything to serve the people he cares about. The compassion for others led him Fallujah, Iraq, where he served in the Navy. It was in Iraq that he realized that he wanted to make a different kind of impact on his community. He decided he wanted a lawyering career, rather than a military one. That would “put me in position to serve my community in the best possible way,” he said. Originally from Trinidad and Tobago, Albert applied only to CUNY Law. “As soon as I walked through the doors, I knew I was in the right place,” he reflected.

Now in his third year and in the Criminal Defense Clinic, Albert spent the past summer at the New Jersey Office of the Public Defender, Essex Adult Region, working on bail reductions, conducting client interviews, and shadowing attorneys. “The Criminal Defense Seminar prepared me for what I would be doing,” he said. “I wasn’t caught off guard.”

There were still moments of realization. He and his supervising attorney were working on the case of a young man who had burglarized a home and allegedly shot an elderly woman in the process. “He had ADD, he was semiliterate, and we had to repeat things over and over. We were trying to get as favorable a disposition as possible, and you wonder when and how you’re going to get through to him,” Albert said. “And that’s when I realized the amount of patience you have to have in this job.”

During his fellowship, Albert heard a top state public defender describe the role of defenders, as making certain the judicial system was healthy. “He said something like, ‘when the worst of the worst of us can have their day in court, that’s a sign that a judicial system is healthy.’ Those remarks made me feel more comfortable, knowing I could do this. This is the role that I play, keeping the judicial system healthy.” Through CUNY, Albert was able to find the place he belonged and make a real impact through his work.