Monthly Attorney Orientation
For Lawyers who are New to Indigent Defense
Beginning August 1, IDS staff will provide orientation for new attorneys on the first Friday of each month from 1-2 p.m.
Topics will include a guided tour of the IDS website, information on training and CLE opportunities, access to wellness resources and more. You will also be able to connect with other defense attorneys for future collaboration!
2025 IDS Forensic Science Education Series – Part 2
IDS and the Mecklenburg Public Defender’s Office offer FREE, regular continuing education to criminal defense and parent attorneys, investigators, and mitigation specialists across North Carolina.
Inside the State Crime Lab: Forensic Testing Explained
July 24: Drug Chemistry – Forensic Scientist Manager Amanda Venable
Aug. 7: Toxicology – Forensic Scientist Supervisor Danielle O’Connell
Sept. 4: Trace Evidence – Forensic Scientist Manager David Freehling
Sept. 18: Mobile Device Examinations and Audio/Video Examinations – Forensic Scientist II Sterling Hunt
Oct. 2: Forensic Biology – Forensic Scientist Supervisor Wendell Ivory
Nov. 6: Firearms – Forensic Scientist Manager Jennifer Slish
Dec. 4: Latent Evidence – Forensic Scientist Managers Summer Maffett and Karen Morrow
IDS Mental Health and Education Series
Monthly sessions are held on the third Thursday of each month from 1-2 p.m. EST.
Topics Include:
- Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder – July
- Trauma Stewardship for Self and Others – August
- Suicide Prevention – September
- Stress Management for the Holidays – October
- 6 “R”s of Trauma-Informed Care – November
- Perinatal Mental Health – December
- This event has passed.
2025 IDS Mental Health Education Series – First FREE Webinar
Register NOW for the first session of the 2025 IDS Mental Health Education Series:
Introduction to Trauma Informed Interviewing
presented by Emma Paul
Schedule: The webinar will be held on Wednesday, June 18 from 1 p.m. to 2 p.m. Please plan to sign on 15 minutes before the start of the webinar to test your connection. The webinar includes a visual presentation, live audio, and interactive Q & A.
CLE: 60 minutes of General CLE Credit is pending.
Individual Course Sign Up: here
Series Sign Up: here
Fee: There is no registration fee for participants.
Description: This presentation will cover the tenets of trauma-informed interviewing and will provide the audience with an introduction to the neurobiology of trauma and trauma’s impact on memory.
Trauma-informed interviewing is both: an understanding of how memory is limited and changed by a traumatic experience, and an effort to address the ways in which the interview itself can be re-traumatizing. This presentation will discuss how to incorporate transparency, trust, and choice to limit possible re-traumatization and how to protect the emotional and mental wellbeing of the interviewer.
Participants: This webinar is open to public defenders, private attorneys who do indigent criminal defense work, and their staff.
Presenter: Emma Paul is the Victim Services Program Manager for the Innocence Inquiry Commission. Emma provides direct support and advocacy to victims of crime, develops and implements trauma-informed policies and practices, and consults with investigators on best approaches to engaging with victims.
Prior to joining the Innocence Inquiry Commission Staff in February 2020, Emma worked as a Project Assistant at the National Center for Child Traumatic Stress. During her time at the National Center for Child Traumatic Stress, Emma served the researchers, child psychiatrists, and community providers working to raise the standard of care and improve access to services for traumatized children, their families and communities throughout the United States. Emma has also previously served as a Restorative Dialogue Facilitator in Wake County public schools.
Emma graduated from Queen’s University Belfast in 2017 with a Bachelor of Arts in Politics and, in 2018, with a Master of Arts in Conflict Transformation and Social Justice.
For more information or if you have differing abilities and need an accommodation to participate in this program, please contact Carla Huff, [email protected], 919-354-7207 or 919-888-0984.
