Management & Leadership Training Programs

UPCOMING EVENTS

Being an excellent criminal defense attorney is a very different thing than being Chief or supervisor of a public defender office, running an assigned counsel or contract attorney system, serving as staff in the office responsible for a state-wide public defense system, or serving on the Board that oversees a public defense system. Most criminal justice system professionals serving in all of these positions today arrived at their job without ever having received any education or training in leadership or management, and yet managing and leading is exactly what they are responsible for doing.

The National Defender Leadership Institute (NDLI) fills that gap by providing for the leadership and management training needs of defender systems throughout the United States. We do this in two ways: through our national training programs open to all defense system professionals, and through regional training programs tailored to the specific needs of a particular office, agency, or jurisdiction.

NATIONAL TRAINING PROGRAMS
IMPACT LEADERSHIP

The most advanced of NDLI’s training programs, Impact Leadership is designed for the senior experienced leaders of any type of defender program, including the chief or high-level administrator of a public defender office, the administrator of an assigned/appointed/contract counsel system, members of the board of directors for a public defense system, indigent defense reform advocates, and leadership of community justice organizations and criminal justice coalitions.

NEW LEADERSHIP

A blended level of NDLI’s training programs is New Leadership. This program is designed for those who have some experience in the basic management skills necessary to any defender program and are seeking to enhance those skills while beginning to develop broader leadership in the political and criminal justice arenas that surround defender programs.

NUTS & BOLTS OF
LEADERSHIP & MANAGEMENT

The most basic of NDLI’s training programs is Nuts & Bolts of Leadership & Management, designed for those making the transition to a leadership position, whether as a supervisor, manager, or head of a defender program.

REGIONAL TRAINING PROGRAMS
ABOUT REGIONAL LEADERSHIP TRAINING

We know that your defender system is different than any other. Whether you work in a city, county, state, or federal system; whether you provide full criminal defense services or specialize in a subject or procedural area; whether your defender system is long-standing or newly created – NDLI is prepared to meet the leadership & management training needs of your criminal justice system community.

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PAST REGIONAL EVENTS
Developing & Implementing Case Management Systems for Public Defenders and Beyond
Friday, October 22, 2010 - Saturday, October 23, 2010

Public defense delivery systems – both juvenile and adult – lag far behind the other components of the criminal justice system (such as the courts, prosecution, law enforcement and corrections) when it comes to data collection, analysis, and the ability to form policy based on objective information.  In most jurisdictions there is no uniform method for collecting and analyzing public defense data and no central repository for any such data.  In many jurisdictions, almost no data is collected at all.  Without accurate, verifiable, objective data, decision-makers are left to form policy based solely on anecdotal information, and public attitudes are consigned to speculation, intuition, presumption, and even bias.

NDLI, in partnership with the National Juvenile Defender Center and the Youth Advocacy Department of Massachusetts CPCS, is hosting this By Invitation Only workshop as the first of many steps needed to develop and implement a uniform, integrated, national database of verifiable, accurate, and objective data about public defense services and their delivery in our country.  The workshop is intended: to have immediate benefits for the participating agencies and organizations; to obtain from and then provide to the national public defense community information about the current state of public defense case management systems and resources presently available; as the beginning of a resource center aiding defender systems to quickly and cost-effectively develop and implement effective case management systems; and to identify the resources and support needed to develop and implement nationally standardized case management practices throughout our criminal justice systems.  

Seeking Justice: Improving the Criminal Justice System with Criminal Defense Performance Standards (Las Vegas) NDLI 2009
Friday, October 2, 2009

The Nevada Supreme Court established its Indigent Defense Commission in 2007 to examine and make recommendations regarding the delivery of indigent defense services in Nevada.  On recommendation of the Commission, the Court issued an Order in ADKT No. 411 implementing the Nevada Indigent Defense Standards of Performance throughout Nevada effective April 1, 2009.  With the funding and support of many national and Nevada organizations, NDLI developed this training program to assist the State of Nevada in implementing the performance standards.  This one-day program is presented twice: once in Reno and once in Las Vegas.

Planning, Implementing, and Communicating – Bon Temps in Baton Rouge NDLI 2009
Friday, August 28, 2009 - Saturday, August 29, 2009

The Louisiana Public Defender Act of 2007 created the Louisiana Public Defender Board and established a central state office of full-time staff.  By 2009, the members of the Board had been appointed and most central state office staff had been hired.  NDLI has worked with LPDB to prepare a training program addressing the present needs of LPDB: how to prepare a strategic plan; understanding and coordinating the roles of the Board and Staff; and effective communication within and outside of the agency.

Policies, Performance, and the Trials of Public Defense -- Living la Vida Loca NDLI 2009
Wednesday, June 3, 2009 - Thursday, June 4, 2009

Public Defender Office attorneys are first criminal defense attorneys.  The training they need in substantive and procedural criminal defense is no different that that needed by private criminal defense attorneys.  They are uniquely situated, however, because of their employment in a governmental tax payer-funded office.  Chief Public Defenders, supervisors and line attorneys, as well as investigators, social workers, and paralegals, all need information and assistance with appropriately carrying out the balance between having two bosses:  the tax payer supported governmental agency by whom they are employed; and the client to whom they owe absolute allegiance.  This program, prepared by NDLI in conjunction with TCDLA and Texas Chief Public Defenders, focuses on:  the use of performance standards; internal and external communications; and transitioning from being a line attorney to being a supervisor or manager.

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