National Seminar on the Development and Integration of Mitigation Evidence in Capital Cases

REGISTRATION IS OPEN!

            The Habeas Assistance and Training Counsel and the Training Division of the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts’ Defender Services Office (DSO), are pleased to announce the “Twenty-Second National Seminar on the Development and Integration of Mitigation Evidence in Capital Cases.”  This unique training initiative will bring together nationally recognized mental health experts, mitigation specialists, and capital defense attorneys to discuss new developments and recurring issues related to social history investigation and the comprehensive development and integration of mitigation evidence at all stages of representation in capital cases.

            The program will be held April 24-27, 2025, at the Hilton Columbus Downtown, 402 N. High Street, Columbus, OH 43215.  This seminar is designed for, and attendance is limited to, federal defenders, CJA panel attorneys, mitigation specialists, investigators, and attorneys interested in representing an individual in federal collateral review, and state court practitioners who are currently appointed or seeking appointment in a capital proceeding in federal court. Continuing Legal Education (CLE) accreditation for attorneys will be sought in all applicable jurisdictions.  There will be no tuition, and materials will be provided to participants free of charge.  Space is limited to 175 attendees.

PROGRAM DESCRIPTION

           This seminar has been held annually since the Supreme Court decision in Wiggins v. Smith, 539 U.S. 510 (2003), which recognized the need for thorough mitigation investigation and acknowledged the importance of the non-lawyer who had compiled the mitigation in the successful post-conviction presentation. Twenty-two years after Wiggins, this year’s seminar will focus on developmental disabilities, including Intellectual Disability, FASD, and Autism. The sessions that explore this area will cover a range of topics practitioners routinely confront when investigating this evidence and presenting it as the basis for an Atkins claim, a guilt phase defense, and/or as mitigation. The conference will also cover psychosis and neuroimaging as well as advancements in understanding social determinants of mental health. In addition, the program offers presentations that focus on the practical aspects of investigating and developing mitigation, including establishing rapport with witnesses, drafting declarations, integrating DIVO into the work, abiding by ethical guidelines, and debunking harmful psychiatric labels. As always, the faculty will include university-based researchers as well as litigators, mitigation specialists, and mental health experts. Breakout sessions will include a beginners’ track on mitigation basics as well as advanced workshops on specialized problems.

SEMINAR REGISTRATION

            While registration is free to attendees, DSO-TD covers the necessary funding to present this program. As a result, please register only if you can attend and if you are unable to attend, please notify us immediately.  We kindly ask that you use your work email address for registration purposes and to help eliminate duplication. For registration, please CLICK HERE. A confirmation email will be sent to you after registering.  If you do not receive a confirmation email, please check your spam folder.

SCHEDULE

            We expect that on-site registration and materials pick-up will commence at 3:30 p.m. and the program will begin at 5:00 p.m. on Thursday, April 24^th, and the seminar will conclude by 12:00 noon on Sunday, April 27, 2025.

CLE (Please read before registering):

We have applied for CLE accreditation in states that have mandatory requirements. We regret that we cannot respond to telephone inquiries regarding the status of CLE approval prior to the workshop. All information related to CLE will be emailed to attendees within 15-30 days following the program.

• To minimize reporting fees per attorney/program, if you are barred in more than one of the following states NM, TN, PA, NE, attendance will be reported to one state only.
• The attorney is responsible for making sure the appropriate state and bar number is on file with the DSO Training Division.
• For applicable states, attendance will be reported using the bar number and state(s) listed on the registration form submitted for this program.
• Failure to provide the state and bar number may result in the Training Division not being able to report your attendance.

For us to report your attendance for CLE purposes, during online registration, you must provide the following information: Bar numbers, including their respective states.  Only include those states where you are seeking credit.

Attorneys seeking CLE credit must ensure that they stop by the program registration desk for daily check-in and check-out.  Failure to follow these steps will result in us being unable to process your CLE credits.

            Thank you for your interest in this very important program.  If you have any logistical questions or require additional information, please contact Chastain Smith via email at [email protected]. All registration and/or CLE inquiries should go to Shiloh Puello at [email protected]