Alex E. Navidad

Alex E. Navidad is partner in the firm of Navidad & Leal. Mr. Navidad was born in San Salvador, El Salvador in 1969. Mr. Navidad received his B.A. degree in Spanish and Law and Society from the University of California at Santa Barbara and his J.D. degree from Arizona State University.

Mr. Navidads practice is primarily immigration and criminal defense in federal, county and city courts. His practice is in a broad range of offenses including murder, bank robbery, drug importation, criminal immigration, "white collar" crime, DUI and Major Crimes Act offenses on Indian Reservations.

Prior to staring his own practice, Mr. Navidad was an Assistant Federal Public Defender for the District of Arizona and a Public Defender for Maricopa County. Mr. Navidad clerked for the Capital Representation Project in Arizona and the Nevada Legal Services in Las Vegas. Mr. Navidad is a past president (2005) of the local Hispanic Bar (Los Abogados) and is part of its Civil rights and Litigation Committee. Mr. Navidad is a member and past chair of the State Bar Criminal Justice Section and member of the State Bar Criminal Rules Committee. Mr. Navidad has taught trial skills seminars in Arizona and throughout Latin America.

Mike A. Leal

Mike A. Leal was born and raised in Phoenix, Arizona. After graduating from St. Marys High School, he obtained a Bachelors Degree in English from Arizona State University and then a law degree from the University of Arizona. After law school, Mike was a trial attorney with the Maricopa County Public Defenders Office for three and a half years before starting a private practice.

In private practice, Mr. Leal has focused on major felony defense in State courts. He has trial experience in multitude of areas including Homicide, Aggravated Assault, Kidnapping, Sex Assault, Child Abuse/Molest, Drug Possession, Arson, Juvenile Adjudications, Probation Violations and Aggravated DUI, among many others.

Mr. Leal is an active member of the community. In 2006, he was appointed by the Governor as part of the Judicial Trial Court Commission in Maricopa County. His duties on this Commission include reviewing applications and submitting recommendations for persons applying for Superior court judgeships. Mr. Leal is also an active Member of Los Abogados, the local Hispanic Bar Association. In 2001 and 2002, he was a member of the Creighton Elementary School Board.

Margarita Silva

Margarita Silva practices immigration law for the law firm of Navidad, Leal & Silva. Ms. Silva is a native Arizonan. She grew up in Tucson and has lived in Phoenix since 1992. In Tucson, she graduated from Tucson High School and then obtained her B.S. in Public Administration with an emphasis in Criminal Justice from the University of Arizona. Ms. Silva earned her Juris Doctorate from Arizona State University College of Law. While at A.S.U., Ms. Silva was active in the Womens Law Student Association and the Chicano/Latino Law Student Association.

From 1996-2002, Ms. Silva was an attorney for the Maricopa County Public Defenders Office, where she served in various capacities including attorney, legislative liaison, community relations coordinator and team leader. In the past, she has also been a member of the Arizona Attorneys for Criminal Justice.

Ms. Silva serves as the president of Los Abogados, the local Hispanic bar association. She is a member of the American Immigration Lawyers Association and the Arizona Attorneys for Criminal Justice; the Supreme Court Commission on Minorities in the Law, the Criminal Justice Executive Council of the State Bar and the Attorney Generals Latino-American Advisory Board.

Jorge Castaneda