Monthly webinars

The Atlantic Center for Capital Representation & the Public Defenders Association of Pennsylvania partnered together in 2021 to host a monthly webinar series on various topics related to capital defense.

801 Capital CLE credits are available for attendants at each 90 minute webinar and the training is free to Public Defenders. There is a $5 fee for Conflict Counsel and those from County Run Conflict Offices and a $25 fee for private counsel. Anyone not wishing to earn CLE credits may attend for free. The button below will direct you to our Training Opportunities page where you can find more information and register to participate.

These seminars are designed to support capital defense attorneys. In order to promote an effective learning environment, applications will not be accepted from anyone who is currently involved in the prosecution of criminal cases.

Questions? Contact Kaylyn Christian at kchristian@atlanticcenter.org.

bring your own case

Every year since 2011, ACCR has organized a three-day conference called the Bring Your Own Case (BYOC) with the support of the Defenders Association of Philadelphia and the Public Defenders Association of Pennsylvania. All defense teams with active death penalty cases are invited to attend at no charge. This hands-on training provides an opportunity for defense teams to work out case-specific challenges. Participants work closely with an expert faculty of nationally renowned capital defense attorneys and mitigation specialists in large group plenary sessions and small group workshops. Training sessions tackle topics from brainstorming the case and effective teamwork to investigation and presentation of mitigating evidence.

Led by ACCR, the faculty assists capital defense teams by helping them integrate the guilt and penalty phases, navigate and present mental health issues, acknowledge the significance of race and culture in any capital prosecution, negotiate pleas and settlements, and obtain adequate time and resources for effective representation. 

In addition to the annual BYOC training conference, ACCR staff plays an integral role in virtually every capital conference in Pennsylvania, and many across the country as well. ACCR’s participation in these trainings has helped elevate the standard of capital defense, providing guidance to capital teams for better communication with clients and negotiations with prosecutors, as well as more thorough investigations. These trainings are extremely popular, and their merit is evidenced by a steadily lower rate of death sentences.  

Additionally, ACCR staff have been involved in statewide and national trainings for defense teams handling juvenile life without parole cases.  Drawing upon their years of experience in training lawyers and mitigation specialists in the areas of capital case mitigation investigation, ACCR staff are active participants in training lawyers and mitigation specialists handling the sentencing hearings of the 500 juveniles sentenced to life without parole in Pennsylvania.