District Council 37 appoints J. Bruce Maffeo, lawyer
and defense attorney, Ethical Practices Officer

DC 37 Executive Director Lillian Roberts announced today that J. Bruce Maffeo has been appointed DC 37 Ethical Practices Officer.

"This appointment is extremely important in terms of insuring accountability for ethical conduct by officials and managerial staff of this union," said Ms. Roberts. "Mr. Maffeo has had a distinguished career as a lawyer and has an excellent legal reputation."

The responsibility of the Ethical Practices Officer, as outlined under Article XIII of the DC 37 constitution, is to draft rules and guidelines for the enforcement of the Ethical Practices Code. These rules and guidelines are subject to ratification by the council delegates. The Ethical Practices Officer will also be responsible for investigating charges of violations of the Ethical Practices Code and have the ability to initiate an investigation when the Officer determines that a violation of the Code may have occurred.

Before entering private practice, Mr. Maffeo was a trial attorney with the United States Department of Justice's Organized Crime and Racketeering Section. As an attorney in New York City, he represents individuals and organizations charged with crimes and regulatory offenses before the state and federal courts as well as attorneys involved in disciplinary proceedings. He has litigated cases involving public corruption, extortion, fraud, tax evasion, anti-trust and RICO. He is a graduate of the Boston University School of Law.

Cliff Koppelman, Chair of the Ethical Practices Committee, explained that the process of selection had taken more time than anticipated because over 100 applications had been received. The choice was narrowed to 6 or 7 finalists, and the Committee's vote for Mr. Maffeo was unanimous.