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Gary Fidel & Linda Cantoni
 


Gary Fidel and Linda Cantoni,
authors of The Art of Argument

Photo: Betsy Herzog

 

 

Photo: Stan Wan

 

 

 

 

 

 

GARY FIDEL graduated cum laude in 1972 from the University of Pittsburgh, where he studied writing. He received his law degree from Duquesne University School of Law in 1975. A member of the bar in New York, Pennsylvania, and Arizona, before joining the Queens District Attorney's Office, he served as a lawyer in Volunteers In Service To America (VISTA) and then as a law clerk to an Arizona Superior Court Justice.

Following several years in private practice, Mr. Fidel joined the Queens District Attorney's Office in 1982. He served for three years in the Appeals Bureau as an Assistant District Attorney and later as a Supreme Court trial assistant district attorney. He returned to the Appeals Bureau in 1988 and was appointed Deputy Bureau Chief of the Appeals Bureau in 1991. He has written and edited hundreds of briefs and argued appeals in state and federal appellate courts including the New York Court of Appeals and the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit. He was subsequently promoted to Director of Special Litigation and in 2000 was appointed by the Honorable Richard A. Brown, District Attorney of Queens County, to the position of Executive Assistant District Attorney for Legal Affairs, overseeing the Appeals Bureau, all aspects of professional training, and the Special Litigation Unit. He has lectured extensively at conferences of the New York State District Attorney's Association and the Queens Bar Association. He has published consumer-oriented articles on legal issues in Family Weekly and book reviews in New York Newsday and The New York Law Journal.

Mr. Fidel is the author of a new novel, The Blue Rider, published in April 2007 by Xlibris.  Read more about it at www.garyfidel.com.

Fidel@ThinkLikeaLawyer.com

 

 

Photo: Joyce Coletti

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

LINDA CANTONI was born in Brooklyn, New York. She received a B.A. in journalism from New York University and a J.D. from Fordham University School of Law, where she was a member of the Law Review. After graduation, she became a litigation associate at Stroock & Stroock & Lavan in New York. She later became an associate of the late Robert Kasanof, a white-collar criminal defense lawyer in New York. In 1989, she joined the Kings County (Brooklyn) District Attorney's Office as an assistant district attorney in the Appeals Bureau, rising to the rank of Senior Appellate Attorney. In 1993, she joined the Queens County (New York) District Attorney's Office under the the late Richard A. Brown. She served as Deputy Chief of the Appeals Bureau; Deputy Director of Special Litigation (capital litigation); Counsel and Deputy Executive A.D.A. for the Investigations Division; and Counsel to the District Attorney. She retired in 2018.

In her long career, Ms. Cantoni wrote and edited hundreds of briefs and argued many cases in the New York and federal courts, including the New York State Court of Appeals and the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit. She also served as a legal advisor to trial and investigative prosecutors, and frequently lectured throughout New York State on various legal topics.

Ms. Cantoni retired to the Berkshires with her husband, Alex Guzman, an orchestra conductor and retired Supreme Court Officer. They have worked for many years with the Regina Opera Company in Brooklyn and continue to serve on its Board of Directors.