Criminal Law

“What is best for the victim?” asked U.S. District Judge Lawrence J. O’Neill. “What is best for the community? What is best for the defendant?” Read more

What can you do if faced with the government argument that a lesser sentence for your client would depreciate the seriousness of the offense and promote disrespect for the law? As one judge once told me, “Tell me something that your client did when no one was keeping score.” Read more

More than one judge I’ve interviewed for this series has told me that they expect lawyers to be succinct; tell them what they don’t already know; be candid about the client’s crime and its impact; and bear in mind that your job in sentencing representation is to connect with the judge, not to impress your client and their friends and family. Read more

This article is republished with permission from Law360 By Alan Ellis Part 3 of this series included interviews with 12 U.S. district court judges on the topic of sentencing advocacy for the challenging client who has committed a heinous offense with a serious prior record as an aggravating factor. Judge James S. Gwin of the Northern District of Ohio in Cleveland was one of those judges. My interview with Judge Gwin was conducted during the pendency of an appeal, United… Read more

This program offers 1 MCLE credit; 1 Legal Specialization in Criminal Law. You must register in advance to participate. As always, a new year brings changes to criminal law. You will hear about the major changes in criminal defense law that took effect 1/1/2020 from both the prosecution and defense viewpoints. Speakers: Albert Camacho, Leif Dautch. Read more

This webinar will discuss the current state of the law concerning the Batson/Wheeler line of cases. The presenters will address who makes up protected classes, how and when to make objections alleging discrimination, how to defend against those objections, and what is the process for determining whether jurors have been excused for discriminatory reasons. Read more

This program will focus on the ethical rules governing the conduct of criminal attorneys, both prosecutors and defense attorneys, and how to balance competing duties to clients, the criminal justice system, and the State Bar. Read more

In order to be an effective and ethical advocate for one’s client in the courtroom, an attorney should understand the basic rules of evidence and know how to use those rules to admit important pieces of evidence. In addition, the attorney should have a basic understanding of some of the ethical issues that arise during a trial. Read more

This webinar will go over an analysis of the ethical issues resulting from the criminal discovery statutes and case law mandating discovery. These issues will include those faced by both prosecutors and defense counsel, and will be discussed from the perspective of a Superior Court Judge and practicing attorneys. Read more

This program offers 1 participatory MCLE credit; 1 Elimination of Bias; 1 Legal Specialization in Criminal Law. You must register in advance to participate. The webinar will address jury challenges, the voir dire process, peremptory and for cause challenges, Batson-Wheeler motions, and jury selection techniques, including questionnaires. The webinar will offer general and legal specialization credit, as well as credit for elimination of bias. (I.e., through the discussion of challenges of members of cognizable groups”). Speaker: Jeffrey A. Aaron. Read more