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!
IDS and the Mecklenburg Public Defender’s Office provide regular continuing education to dozens of NC criminal defense and parent attorneys, investigators, and mitigation specialists who attend the IDS Forensic Science Education Series.
In 2026, we will offer monthly 90-minute webinars on various aspects of forensic evidence. These webinars will take place typically at 12:30 pm on the first Thursday of each month. Click here to view the 2026 Schedule.
The first six sessions of 2026 will focus on understanding and advocating for neurodivergent clients.
There may be some open seats in the National College for Capital Voir Dire's May training session. If you have a pending capital trial, or a threatened capital trial, you are encouraged to sign up and join us in beautiful Boulder, Colorado. The conference is May 18-20. This is a hands-on, learn by doing training […]
This year’s conference will be held in person May 10-12, 2023, at the Winston-Salem Benton Convention Center (301 W 5th St, Winston-Salem, NC 27101).
IDS Forensic Science Education Series These opportunities are virtual events, the first Thursday of every month at 12:30 p.m. via Webex. The series is open to any legal professional working on a criminal defense team. (This includes attorneys, private investigators, mitigation specialists, paralegals, and legal assistants on criminal defense teams.) *Click the following link for […]
The annual 2023 Death Penalty Seminar begins April 27. This is an in-person seminar only. The location is the Doubletree RDU Hotel at Research Triangle Park, 4810 Page Creek Lane, Durham. There are two events for the seminar. Each part requires a separate fee. The first part is Thursday evening, April 27, 2023. The hotel […]
The deadline to register for the 2023 Spring Public Defender Conference closes APRIL 26 at 5 p.m. Click here to access the course page and agenda. This conference is cosponsored by the School of Government, the Office of Indigent Defense Services, and the NC Association of Public Defenders. The conference will offer approximately 13.75 hours of […]
The Mecklenburg County Public Defender's Office is hosting a free to attend CLE on Mental Health and Stress Resilience for Attorneys. Pending approval by the NC State Bar, this CLE is for 1 mental health/substance abuse hour. If you need CLE credit, you must fill out the post-cle survey and the NC State Bar will charge you $3.50/hour. Please register at […]
Join State Juvenile Defender Eric Zogry and other youth defenders as we explore the “Role of the Youth Defender.” This training is the second session offered in our Back-to-Basics Virtual Series! Mr. Zogry will cover topics including: As youth defenders, are we expressed interest advocates or best interest advocates? How do we interact with the […]
Live webinar presented by Clare Garvie, Training and Resource Counsel, Fourth Amendment Center at NACDL Nov. 3, 2022, 12:30 pm 90 min of CLE credit anticipated For the past twenty years, police across the U.S. have used face recognition as a routine investigative technique with little to no controls, oversight, or disclosure to the defense, […]
Live webinar presented by Michael Price, Litigation Director for the Fourth Amendment Center at NACDL Oct. 6, 2022, 12:30 pm 90 min of CLE credit anticipated Searches and seizures of digital data are now routine in criminal investigations, but the role of the Fourth Amendment in the digital world is far from settled. This training […]
“n essential component” of the right to an impartial jury is the “selection of a jury from a representative cross-section of the community.” Taylor v. Louisiana, 419 U.S. 522, 528 (1975). The right to a jury that is a fair cross-section of the community is a well-known concept for criminal defense attorneys. However, the legal and practical complexities […]
Learn about jury diversity from national experts, local judicial officials, and practitioners. In this FREE comprehensive fair cross-section training we will cover some of the factors that contribute to racial and ethnic disparities, why diverse juries matter, how the fair cross section requirement differs from equal protection, as well as some model practices for improving jury diversity.
Live webinar presented by James Williams, Dr. Jeff Kukucka, and Emily Coward Aug. 4, 2022, 12:30 pm 90 min of CLE credit anticipated Description: This program will examine several ways that race affects forensic evidence. Presenters will discuss the racist or colonial roots of some of the forensic sciences, how racism manifests in some current […]
