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DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20260331T140000
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SUMMARY:Story-Driven Advocacy: Crafting Case Narratives and Mitigation for Trial
DESCRIPTION:Description\nIn Story-Driven Advocacy: Crafting Case Narratives and Mitigation for Trial workshop\, all public defenders will learn to apply storytelling techniques to their own cases to create empathy and compel action for their clients’ behalf. This bring-your-own-case course is a weekly\, interactive workshop for attorneys\, mitigation specialists\, investigators\, and training supervisors. Whether you’re representing clients in court or advocating for their well-being\, this online workshop series from the National Association for Public Defense will help you leverage the power of storytelling to create empathy and compel action. Designed specifically for public defense professionals\, this four-week course provides practical tools\, proven frameworks\, and real-time support to elevate your advocacy and ensure your client’s story is heard and understood. \nDates: \nBegins March 30 week for 4 weeks. Each live workshop session is capped at 4 registrants (choose one date that works for your schedule).\nLive 90-minute workshop sessions are offered on:\n\nWednesday 4/1\, 4/8\, 4/15\, 4/22 2:00-3:30 pm EST\nTuesday 3/31\, 4/7\, 4/14\, 4/21 2:00-3:30 pm EST\nFriday 4/3\, 4/10\, 4/17\, 4/24 2:00-3:30 pm EST\n\nNOTE: ONLY WEDNESDAY GROUP SPACES REMAINING \nPrice:\n$325 NAPD Members / $425 Public \nRegistration closes on 3/23/26 at 5PM EST \n\nWhat to Expect\nOn-Demand Learning\nEach week\, you’ll gain access up and additional hour of video content through our learning platform. Watch at your own pace as you explore key storytelling topics that prepare you for deeper engagement during the live workshops. \nFacilitated Small Group Workshops\nJoin a 90-minute zoom-based workshop each week (4 total)\, led by Michael Ahn. Through peer collaboration\, real-world scenarios\, and guided discussion\, you’ll apply what you’ve learned to your cases and learn from others. We will poll registrants to set the workshop times each week —choose the one that fits your schedule. \nA similar course is also offered as in an on demand model without the workshops – click here to register  \n\nTopics Covered\n\nUnderstand how story creates juror bias in trials\nLearn the basic mechanism of storytelling used successfully at jury trials\nExplore how to apply storytelling technique to your case\nUse storytelling techniques to create empathy and action\n\n\nWho Should Attend\nThis course is for criminal justice workers representing clients from marginalized populations\, attorneys needing to argue a case before a jury or in mediation\, and social workers / mitigation specialists advocating for a client’s sentencing or creating mitigation memos. You’ll leave with tools you can use right away\, plus new insights to strengthen your impact and better support your clients. \n\nSmall Group Facilitator Bio\nMichael Ahn is a trial narrative consultant who helps attorneys use story techniques in mediation and jury trials. Since 2016\, Michael has consulted on hundreds of cases\, with an 80% success rate\, including acquittals on five trials where the client was facing a life sentence. Michael also creates damages narratives for personal injury cases and consults with social justice organizations on using story techniques in messaging on key issues. \n\nTestimonials\n“Michael’s trial consultation significantly contributed to a complete acquittal in a recent homicide trial. He discovers the truth of a case which allows attorneys to incorporate that truth into compelling narratives and archetypes during jury selection\, opening\, witness examination and closing. Michael receives my highest recommendation and I encourage any attorney trying a case to consult with him.” — Wil Rumble\, Deputy Public Defender\, Vista\, CA \n“Michael worked on a horrific sex case and was able to assist the defense in finding a way to present the client compassionately. Michael will help you to re-focus your case. He is the perfect “second chair” who understands the work but sees it as a non-lawyer. His input is priceless.” — Sloan Ostbye\, Supervising Attorney\, San Diego\, CA \n“Michael Ahn helped me distill my story into a powerful and persuasive narrative which enabled me to present a focused\, theory-centered presentation to the jury. Using Michael’s unique skills and techniques\, my case evolved into a story with clarity\, emotion\, and impact – everything necessary for a successful trial.” — Adam Hepburn\, Deputy Public Defender \n“Michael Ahn knows how to craft your client’s story so that it is presented in a compelling way to the jury. A great consultant prior to trial!” — Elliott H. Jung\, Deputy Public Defender \n“Michael’s storytelling techniques helped me focus the jury’s attention on what was important. Michael was especially useful for framing what originally seemed like weaknesses as some of our biggest narrative strengths.” — Matthew Cuthbertson\, Deputy Public Defender \n“Michael’s storytelling techniques helped me persuade the jury and ultimately won my case – my client was acquitted of all charges.” — Olesya Adams\, Deputy Public Defender
URL:https://publicdefenders.us/event/story-driven-advocacy-crafting-case-narratives-and-mitigation-for-trial/
LOCATION:Virtual\, Virtual Event
CATEGORIES:Online Course
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DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20260416T150000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20260416T163000
DTSTAMP:20260509T065202
CREATED:20260317T010733Z
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SUMMARY:What Have We Learned So Far from the National Public Defense Well-Being Study?
DESCRIPTION:Description:\nBeSustained\, a national nonprofit with the mission of improving access to justice by advancing the well-being of public defenders\, is conducting a national study of well-being in public defense. At this webinar\, Harvard Business School researcher Jon Jachimowicz will share findings from a daily diary study conducted in November 2025\, seeking to deepen our understanding of what drives passion\, energy and sustainability in public defense. Matt Thiese\, a researcher with the Rocky Mountain Center for Occupational and Environmental Health\, will share plans for the upcoming survey and focus groups that will survey issues affecting public defender well-being.   The findings and recommendations from this project will help support individual defenders\, improve the organizations we work in\, and inform the systems making budget and policy decisions that impact public defense. \nPresenter Bio:\nJon M. Jachimowicz is an Assistant Professor of Business Administration in the Organizational Behavior Unit at Harvard Business School\, where he teaches the Leadership and Organizational Behavior course (LEAD) in the Required Curriculum. He studies the experience\, antecedents\, and consequences of passion. His work reveals that scholars and the broader public often fundamentally misunderstand passion. \nMatthew S. Thiese\, PhD\, MSPH\, is an Assistant Professor at the University of Utah’s Rocky Mountain Center for Occupational and Environmental Health\, one of the 18 NIOSH-sponsored Education and Research Centers in the US. He earned his BS in Exercise and Sport Science (2001)\, MSPH in General Public Health (2003)\, and PhD in Occupational Injury Prevention (2008). Dr. Thiese’s dissertation focused on the predictive relationship on physical activity and the incidence of low back pain. This dissertation involved field measurements of workers’ on-the-job and leisure time physical activity. He has extensive experience in physical activity assessment\, energy expenditure measurement\, and observational research. Dr. Thiese’s primary areas of research interest are 1) transportation worker health and 2) musculoskeletal disorders. His research has included multiple field studies\, including three large cohort studies and two large cross-sectional studies involving either transportation workers or musculoskeletal disorders. Dr. Thiese currently teaches three courses at the School of Medicine and is involved in multiple ongoing field research projects. Dr. Thiese has field experiences with measuring aerobic capacity and energy expenditures in both laboratory and occupational settings. \nJenny Andrews\, she/her. A child of counterculture\, raised off the grid by back-to-the-land hippies on the Lost Coast in Northern California\, Jenny Andrews is a graduate of Cornell University and Harvard Law School. She started her career as a public defender in Oakland\, California in 1996\, but left after seven years\, after experiencing burnout and moral injury\, and didn’t practice law for three years. She returned to public defense work in 2007 and continued working as a public defender in Sonoma County and Santa Barbara County until 2022\, consistently litigating cases and navigating challenges to sustainability in a wide variety of positions\, including: Forensic Resource Counsel\, Felony Team Leader\, Director of Training\, and Senior Deputy. In 2022\, she became the Director of Training at the Indigent Defense Improvement Division of the Office of the State Public Defender\, a new statewide effort to support and train indigent defenders in California. She teaches on the faculty of Gideon’s Promise\, the National Association for Public Defense\, the National Legal Aid and Defender Association\, the National Criminal Defense College\, the Trial Advocacy Workshop at Harvard Law School\, and the Stanford Trial Advocacy & New Defender Uplift Program (STANDUP). She is the founder and director of BeSustained\, a national nonprofit with the mission of improving access to justice by advancing the well-being of public defenders. She speaks nationwide on public defense well-being and has been interviewed by Slate Magazine\, Public Defenseless and Moral Matters podcasts.
URL:https://publicdefenders.us/event/what-have-we-learned-so-far-from-the-national-public-defense-well-being-study/
CATEGORIES:Webinar
LOCATION:https://publicdefenders.us/event/what-have-we-learned-so-far-from-the-national-public-defense-well-being-study/
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