Our Attorneys

Alejandro grew up in New York City, giving him the opportunity to confront the plight of urban communities and wrestle with his place within them. In college, he studied philosophy where he formed some of his most enduring views on concepts surrounding free will, personal responsibility, individual rights, and morality. After graduating from Harvard University in 2004, he worked briefly for a public defender organization in Harlem, NY. There, his life-long passion for public defense was sparked; sitting with his clients and their loved ones, learning their complicated stories, he saw that public defense drew practitioners into the most serious conversations our society must have. After graduating from NYU Law in 2008, he started his legal career as an E. Barrett Prettyman Fellow at the Georgetown Law Center’s Criminal Justice Clinic. He has fought for people charged with local, state, and federal crime, ever since.  Having now practiced far and wide, he arrived in Vermont with the hope that he may dedicate his remaining decades to the people of this wonderful state. 

Steve graduated cum laude from the University of Vermont in 1996 and New York University School of Law in 1999. After two years at the New York law firm Dewey Ballantine, LLP, he transitioned to the Federal Defenders of San Diego, Inc., where he maintained a full trial and appellate case load. In 2007 he was promoted to supervisor and led a trial team of between 6 and 8 attorneys while continuing to maintain an active trial and appellate practice. In 2010, he joined the Office of the Federal Public Defender in Vermont.

Barclay was previously an attorney with Vermont’s largest law firm. Recent important victories include, United States v. Merz, 653 F. App'x 72 (2d Cir. 2016); Blow v. United States, 829 F.3d 170 (2d Cir. 2016); United States v. Van Mead, 773 F.3d 429 (2d Cir. 2014); United States v. Simard, 731 F.3d 156 (2d Cir. 2013); United States v. Klim, 2014 WL 4403153 (D. Vt.).

Barclay graduated summa cum laude from the Indiana University School of Law-Indianapolis where he was a member of the Indiana Law Review. Barclay also holds a M.A. in Russian and European history from the University of Massachusetts-Amherst. After law school, he clerked for the Hon. Pasco M. Bowman of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit. Barclay is the author of a number of articles, including Restoring Civility The Civil Asset Forfeiture Reform Act of 2000: Baby Steps Towards a More Civilized Civil Forfeiture System, 35 Ind. L. Rev. 1045 (2002); The Severest Justice Is Not the Best Policy: The One-Strike Policy in Public Housing, 10 J. Affordable Housing & Community Dev. L (2001); Credit Crisis to Education Emergency: The Constitutionality of Model Student Voucher Programs Under the Indiana Constitution, 35 Ind. L. Rev. 173 (2001).

Emily received her J.D. magna cum laude from New York University School of Law and received her B.S. from Cornell University. At NYU, Emily was named a Pomeroy Scholar, Butler Scholar, and a member of the Order of the Coif. She was a winner of the Maurice Goldman Memorial Prize and a member of the NYU Law Review. After law school, she clerked for the Hon. Analisa Torres of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York and the Hon. Gerard Lynch of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit. Emily went on to complete a two-year fellowship at Vermont Law Aid. Prior to joining the Federal Defender Office, Emily worked for the New Hampshire State Defender’s Office. Emily represented clients charged with misdemeanors and felonies at all stages of proceedings.

Charles Curlett has been a criminal defense lawyer and litigator for over 25 years.  He received his B.A. from Johns Hopkins University in 1993, his J.D. from Brooklyn Law School in 1998, and his LL.M. in Public International Law from Leiden University in the Netherlands in 2001. Mr. Curlett began his legal career in the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia in The Hague, where he was a law clerk in the Office of the Prosecutor from 1999 to 2001. He then served as an Assistant District Attorney in the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office from 2001 to 2005, prosecuting a wide range of criminal cases. Mr. Curlett spent the next 20 years in private practice, holding partnerships in national, regional, and boutique law firms.  He is a past chair of the criminal law section of the Federal Bar Association and was named a Fellow of the Foundation of the Federal Bar Association in 2017.  He is admitted to practice in the United States Supreme Court, the United States Courts of Appeals for the Second and Fourth Circuits, and the federal district courts in the eastern and southern districts of New York, Maryland, the District of Columbia, and Vermont. 

Sam Ansell began practicing criminal defense in 2004 at the Marion County Public Defender Agency in Indianapolis, Indiana. In 2008, he transitioned to a full-time private practice devoted to criminal defense and corresponding immigration advocacy for clients at risk of deportation. Throughout his time in private practice, he regularly accepted appointments to represent indigent defendants in federal court. In 2019, he accepted employment with the Indiana Federal Community Defenders to focus exclusively on federal criminal defense. During his time in Indiana, he tried six federal cases before a jury and won two acquittals. He also argued six cases before the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals and won two reversals resulting in dismissal of all charges. In October of 2025, he moved to Burlington to join the Office of the Federal Public Defender in Vermont.