Andrea Taylor Sentencing Advocacy Workshop, November 14-16 2019, Houston TX
Registration is now open for the Defender Services Office, Training Division’s (DSO-TD) Andrea Taylor Sentencing Advocacy Workshop, which will take place Thursday, November 14, 2019 through Saturday, November 16, 2019 at the Hyatt Regency Houston. As with all DSO-TD programs, there is no registration fee. This program is open to CJA panel attorneys and federal defender staff, so please make this information available to your staff and panel members. 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. The workshop typically goes into wait list status very quickly, so early registration is encouraged.
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 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 they 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, brainstorming the facts of the case, 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 brainstorm facts, develop theories and themes, practice storytelling, persuasively write part of their sentencing memorandums and discuss how best to conduct sentencing hearings.
Limited financial assistance may be available to non-federal defender registrants for travel related expenses. Linked below is a draft agenda and a financial assistance application, both of which are also available on the training events page of http://www.fd.org/. Interested persons can register through fd.org, or by visiting http://www.cvent.com/d/3yqyp3 . Should you require any logistical information regarding this workshop, please email Rolan McClarry at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. If you have questions about the content of this workshop please email Joan Politeo at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
Continuing Legal Education (CLE) accreditation for this program will be sought in all applicable jurisdictions.
Finally, as a reminder, we encourage all CJA practitioners to visit http://www.fd.org/ for the latest news and legal developments that impact our clients and to find helpful program materials from past seminars.