Public Defense Training Programs

In far too many regions of the country, training for both publicly-employed defenders and private counsel providing public defense services by court assignment or contract is grossly inadequate, undermining the ABA’s Ten Principles of a Public Defense Delivery System. In order to support public defense and with grant support from the Bureau of Justice Assistance, NACDL creates free national training programs for public defense providers and offers online resources to make those programs accessible nationwide.

The national training program established by NACDL offers jurisdictionally specific training curricula and programs are aimed at addressing specific regional and local needs.

The online resources available through this page help support ongoing training efforts and deliver technical support by disseminating resources, training curricula and selected materials, as well as videos and webinars that enable other public defense providers to adopt best practices. Videos of training programs are only available for informational reference and not for CLE credit.

Webinars: