Please be advised that registration for all Training Division Events is limited to persons who provide services pursuant to the Federal Criminal Justice Act (CJA). For more information please read our Training Events Registration Disclaimer.
If you have any questions about registering, please emailus.
27 - 29
Paralegal and Investigator Skills Workshop: A Team Approach to Criminal Defense
The Paralegal and Investigator Skills Workshop is a hands-on program providing intensive training in several skills (e.g., interviewing, case management/organization, locating records and witnesses, analyzing documents) that are essential to the daily work of paralegals and investigators. Both federal defender staff and paralegals and investigators who work CJA panel attorneys are encouraged to attend. The program is designed to give participants the opportunity to learn by doing, using a combination of plenary sessions and interactive small group breakouts. In the small groups, participants practice the skills introduced in the plenary sessions, using the facts of a model case.
Since the workshop emphasizes essential skills, it is particularly valuable to new investigators and paralegals. Those with more experience will find it to be a useful refresher and an opportunity to share their knowledge with others. Please note that, due to the workshop format of this program, participants will be required to attend all sessions. To attend this workshop, participants must (1) be employees with paralegal and/or investigator duties in a federal defender office, or regularly perform such duties in conjunction with federal CJA panel attorney appointments and (2) have not attended this workshop in the past. Enrollment for this program is limited to 90 participants.
11 - 13
Non-Capital Sentencing Mitigation Skills Workshop
Using a storytelling approach, this workshop presents a hands-on method on the development of non-capital mitigation and its integration into persuasive sentencing advocacy. Through plenary and small group sessions, participants will further their understanding on non-capital mitigation evidence and the skills necessary to effectively interview for mitigation; investigate, collect and analyze records; and write reports and/or sentencing memorandum to present mitigation at sentencing. In the small group sessions, participants will use pending cases of their own to practice interviewing, storytelling, and persuasive writing. This workshop is specifically designed for non-capital mitigation social workers, sentencing advocates, attorneys and other professionals who provide this work under the Criminal Justice Act (CJA). Please note that due to the workshop format of this program, participation in all of the sessions is mandatory.
Enrollment for this program is limited to 45 federal defender staff and non-capital mitigation social workers, sentencing advocates, attorneys and other professionals who provide this work under the Criminal Justice Act (CJA).
Early registration is encouraged.
21 - 26
FEDERAL CJA TRIAL SKILLS ACADEMY
The skills-based Academy has been a tremendous success. This program focuses on (1) the use of a trial advocacy process to facilitate the development of a persuasive, fact-based theory and supporting themes, and (2) the advocacy skills necessary to persuasively advance that theory and those themes throughout the trial. A very experienced and skilled faculty leads this program through a series of plenary sessions and workshops. Elements of effective litigation advocacy skills are presented in the plenaries.
Participants then engage in hands-on practice of those skills and receive feedback in small group workshops. Participation is limited to 66 attendees, with a majority of participants accepted being CJA panel attorneys.
1 - 3
Law & Technology Series: Electronic Courtroom Presentation
The Law & Technology Series: Electronic Courtroom Presentation Workshop (ECP) exposes CJA panel and federal public/community defender attorneys and professional staff to the legal, strategic, and technological considerations involved with electronically presenting information in the federal courtroom during trial and hearings. This two-and-a-half-day program uses a combination of plenary presentations and small group, hands-on instruction. In the smaller breakout groups, attendees will practice direct and cross-examination, opening statements, and closing arguments, using Trial Director and PowerPoint software which are well suited for electronically presenting information in the courtroom.
12 - 14
Persuasive Writing Workshop
This hands-on workshop teaches participants how to use fact-busting and principles of storytelling and persuasion to craft fact-driven written advocacy that persuasively integrates the facts of one's case with relevant legal principles. Through plenary and small group sessions, participants will find that these techniques result in writing that is enjoyable to read and enhances one's chances of winning. During the course of the workshop, participants will apply these principles to one of their own cases. Registration will be limited to 36 federal defender staff, CJA panel attorneys, and other legal professionals that provide work under the Criminal Justice Act. Participants must bring to the workshop an open CJA case in which they will be filing a written work product (e.g., pre-trial or trial motion, sentencing memo involving some legal challenge, opening brief on appeal). Please note that due to the workshop format of this program, participation in all of the sessions is mandatory.
15 - 17
Multi-Track Federal Criminal Defense Seminar
The Multi-Track Federal Criminal Defense Seminar offers in-depth instruction in a variety of substantive areas of federal criminal defense practice areas through both plenary and breakout sessions. The plenary sessions will address topics of general interest and importance to criminal defense practitioners. The program also provides related sessions, or tracks, which are grouped together allowing attorneys to select areas of practice which will best meet their training needs. The five tracks (breakout sessions) are: (1) Race in the Federal Criminal Court; (2) Forensics; (3) Drugs; (4) Sentencing Strategies & Practices; and (5) Trial Skills and Evidence.
12 - 14
The Andrea Taylor Sentencing Advocacy Workshop
The Andrea Taylor Sentencing Advocacy Workshop focuses on a vital area of federal practice that has evolved since the Supreme Court declared the federal sentencing guidelines were advisory and no longer mandatory. Since approximately 97% of federal criminal cases continue to the sentencing phase, participation in the Sentencing Advocacy Workshop should not be missed. The Sentencing Advocacy Workshop teaches a comprehensive approach to sentencing where participants are trained to develop persuasive, fact-based, sentencing theories, and are provided with the advocacy skills necessary to advance their theories both in writing and during sentencing hearings. Presentations and demonstrations at the workshop include client relations and interviewing for mitigation, fact busting, developing persuasive theories and themes, storytelling at sentencing, persuasive writing, and persuasive presentation. The workshop consists of plenary sessions and small group breakout sessions. In the small group sessions, participants will use pending cases of their own to bust the facts, develop theories and themes, practice storytelling, persuasively write part of their sentencing memorandums and discuss how best to conduct sentencing hearings. Please note that due to the workshop format of this program, participation in all of the sessions is mandatory.
Enrollment for this program is limited to 65 participants – priority will be given to those people who have not attended this workshop in the past. Limited financial assistance may be available to non-federal defender registrants for travel expenses.