• Phone: 505-369-0563
  • Fax: 575-393-3300
  • Email Us

616 East Bender Blvd. Hobbs NM 88240 View Map
Home > Fredlund & Bryan Articles >  Public Defender Wins State Wide Award
Public Defender Wins State Wide Award
R.A. BESCHIZZA
HOBBS NEWS-SUN

    Hobbs-based public defender Jon Fredlund has won the prestigious Carlos Vigil award, edging out competition from across New Mexico.
    The award, previously know simply as employee of the year; was renamed in honor of a Santa Fe-based attorney who was murdered by a disgruntled client.
    "This is the highest honor the public defender's department can confer," District Public Defender Rebecca Reese said.  "Being named after Carlos, it gives it even greater meaning for those who knew him."
    Indeed, while Fredlund was proud to have been selected from New Mexico's 150-strong pool of public defenders, Vigil seemed to be the true hero of the day.
    "He spent his whole career in the northern New Mexico area as a private attorney," Fredlund said.  "But he did a lot of work for the underprivileged."
    In a letter recommending Fredlund for the award, Reese said he was extremely tenacious in representing his clients.  She also pointed to his service to Hobbs, including as a director of the Teen Court and as treasurer, vice president and president of the Lea County Bar Association.
    Fredlund added that he was happy that the award could be won by someone from outside of the big cities.  "It's good that is doesn't necessarily go to someone from the Albuquerque or Santa Fe area," Fredlund said.
    "We're referred to as the 'rural' offices," Reese laughed, "and routinely ignored."
    With competition from offices in Albuquerque, Santa Fe, Farmington, Alamogordo, Las Cruces, Roswell and Carlsbad, Reese said the award was not something to be taken lightly.
    Fredlund himself has been a public defender for five years.  After earning his undergraduate degree from the University of Maryland and then a law degree at the University of Arkansas, Fredlund moved to New Mexico with family and fell in love with the area.
    Public defenders represent those who cannot afford private lawyers to contest criminal cases.
    "That's the vast majority of criminal defendant," Fredlund said, "at least 90 percent."
    

This web site is designed for general information only. The information presented at this site should not be construed to be formal legal advice nor the formation of a lawyer/client relationship. Fredlund & Bryan
Attorneys at Law website is powered by LexisNexis® Martindale-Hubbell®. || Sitemap