October First Friday Training: 2026 What Defenders Should Know About Sex Offense Civil Commitment Proceedings

Many practitioners are only vaguely aware of civil commitment for sexually dangerous people, and are often surprised by who is eligible, how the process unfolds, and how significantly decisions made in the criminal case can affect a client’s future exposure. This webinar provides a practical overview of federal civil commitment, including how the process operates within the Bureau of Prisons and in court. 

The session will explain who is at risk for civil commitment, how and when cases are initiated, and the procedural mechanics attorneys should understand long before a client completes a custodial sentence. Particular emphasis will be placed on how plea negotiations, PSR objections, sentencing strategy, and post-conviction conduct in the criminal case can influence a potential civil commitment proceeding down the road. The goal is to equip attorneys with the knowledge needed to identify risk early, advise clients effectively, and avoid unintended consequences that can extend confinement well beyond the criminal sentence

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August First Friday Training: 2026 Challenging ICE Detention Through Habeas

Many noncitizens face mandatory immigration detention as the government has, over the last year, changed its policies about who is eligible for bond and by implication who is eligible for release from detention. Many unlawfully detained noncitizens have won release and/or bond hearings by filing writs of habeas corpus under 28 U.S.C. § 2241 in federal district court. This webinar will provide training on filing § 2241 petitions in cases of noncitizens detained by ICE and denied their right to request release.

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June First Friday Training: In Her Defense Webinar Series, What She Said: Gender Dynamics in Client Communication

Women clients often have complex histories of trauma and abuse, normally at the hands of people in positions of authority or power.  The criminal legal system is overflowing with people who have more authority than your woman client, including you—her advocate.  It is important to understand how your client’s trauma responses and programed responses to authority can affect a client’s communication at all stages of a criminal case from Miranda waiver, to consent to search, to decision to fight or plead, and to the attorney-client relationship.

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May First Friday Training: 2025 - 2026 The Investigator Playbook Series (Session 3: Facing the Algorithm - AI-Generated Police Reports

Police departments are already using AI to write reports, sometimes based on body cam footage, sometimes without a clear author at all. But what does that mean for defense? This session explores emerging tools like Axon Draft One and others that use generative AI to create narratives from raw data. We’ll talk about how to identify these reports, how to challenge their reliability, and how to push for the discovery you need. If your work touches anything involving police reports, this session will help you see what’s changing and how to get ahead of it.

Opinions expressed in content on this webinar are those of the presenter, and not the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts.

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April 1st Friday Training -- 22-16499 USA v. $1,106,775 in US Currency

Case Panel:

MURGUIA, WARDLAW, CALLAHAN, NGUYEN, OWENS, FRIEDLAND, MILLER, BRESS, SANCHEZ, DESAI, JOHNSTONE

Hearing Location:

Pasadena, CA

Hearing Date:

2026-01-14

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Appellate Series: Identifying Federal Criminal Defense Issues Currently Splitting the Circuits

Ever identify a circuit split only to find out the split had been resolved? Or wished you had preserved a split long after your case had closed? We’ve all been there. Wouldn’t it be nice to have a training session designated to reviewing unresolved circuit splits so that you can effectively exploit these gaps in the law to benefit your client? We thought so, too.

In this webinar, we will review many of the federal criminal issues that are currently dividing the courts and discuss the preservation of these issues for potential appeal. We will identify circuit splits related to the issues you see most: searches and seizures, defendant statements, immigration, standards of review, the Sentencing Guidelines, and more. After this webinar, you will be able to recognize many of the current criminal defense issues dividing the Courts of Appeals so that you can use (and preserve) these issues to vigorously defend your clients.

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Strategies to Recognize and Address Translation Issues: When Culture and Language Go to Court

Have you ever reviewed the government’s transcription of calls which directly implicate your client only to later discover significant translation inaccuracies and errors? The phrase “lost in translation” is more than a metaphor—it can profoundly impact our cases. Translation errors may depend upon who transcribes your client’s words, their biases favoring law enforcement, questionable skill levels, or a lack of understanding indigenous languages and cultural nuances. This session will equip you with strategies to recognize these translation issues and explore practical strategies to address them.

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November First Friday Training: Wicked Arguments to Get Your Non-Citizen Clients Bond

Do you waive pretrial release issues when your clients have immigration detainers (also called ICE holds or immigration holds)? Well, you don't have to! This session will provide practical tips on how to obtain bail despite the client's alleged unlawful presence in the United States.

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September First Friday Training: Forensics: Primer on DNA

DNA evidence has become commonplace in criminal investigations across the country. In this video, viewers will recognize the role forensic DNA evidence plays in federal criminal investigations and develop the foundational knowledge necessary to understand the issues and learn how to effectively investigate and litigate cases involving DNA evidence. Viewers will also learn to identify the parts of a standard DNA casefile and develop the vocabulary necessary to engage experts on DNA related issues.  Presented at 2023 Multi-Track Criminal Defense Seminar, Minneapolos, MN.

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December 1st Friday Training -- Immigration Consequences of Criminal Convictions

Are you currently representing your first transgender or non-binary client or do you want to be ready for the first (or next) transgender or non-binary client you are assigned?

This training will cover some of the basics of how to meet with a transgender or non-binary client and ask questions about names, pronouns, and other basics. We will talk about some universal precautions, meaning simple steps you can take with all clients to signal support and start a conversation with clients who are trans or non-binary and then move on to talk about having some of the tougher conversations about issues like medical transition and planning client-centered interventions for when bad things happen in the legal system. To save time and make time for the other topics on representing transgender clients, we will move through some of the basic terminology only very quickly at the beginning of the training so to prepare, especially if terminology about transgender/non-binary people is new to you, please take a look at the materials provided to you after registration beforehand.

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January 1st Friday Training--Retroactive Application Of New Criminal History Guidelines Amendment 821

On April 27, 2023, the Sentencing Commission submitted to Congress an amendment to the federal sentencing guidelines often referred to as "Amendment 821" or "2023 Criminal History Amendment." On August 24, 2023, Commissioners voted to allow delayed retroactive application to Amendment 821 Part A and subpart 1 of Part B. Part A limits the overall criminal history impact of "Status Points" at USSG SS4A1.1. Part B, Subpart 1 creates a new Chapter Four guideline at USSG SS4C1.1 decreasing by two the offense levels for defendants who did not receive any criminal history points and whose instant offense did not involve specific aggravating factors. If Congress does not act to reject the amendment, thousands of eligible incarcerated individuals will be able to ask courts to reduce their sentences beginning November 1, 2023. Orders granting retroactive relief under the amendment cannot have an effective date prior to February 1, 2024. This webinar will discuss who is eligible for retroactive application, how to make a motion for reduced sentence, what the judge considers when deciding to grant a reduction, limitations on the extent of the reduction a court can make, and strategies to maximize the impact of relief to currently incarcerated individuals.

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