NATIONAL CRIMINAL DEFENSE COLLEGE FACULTY

A B C D E F G H J K L M N O P R S T V W Y Z

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Jennifer Sellitti

New Jersey Public Defender

Jennifer Sellitti is Director of Training & Communications for the New Jersey Office of the Public Defender (OPD), where she is responsible for teaching trial advocacy and substantive law to public defenders in all of the agency’s practice areas. She works at the direction of the public defender on special projects that impact OPD clients such as police accountability, juvenile resentencings, and pretrial justice/bail reform.…Read More
Work Hughes Justice Complex 2nd Floor, 25 Market Street Trenton NJ
Biography

Jennifer Sellitti is Director of Training & Communications for the New Jersey Office of the Public Defender (OPD), where she is responsible for teaching trial advocacy and substantive law to public defenders in all of the agency’s practice areas. She works at the direction of the public defender on special projects that impact OPD clients such as police accountability, juvenile resentencings, and pretrial justice/bail reform. In addition, she represents clients charged with serious felonies at trials.

Prior to her appointment to director, she was the managing attorney for the Middlesex Trial Region and an assistant deputy public defender in the Essex County Adult Region. She worked as a staff attorney for the Committee for Public Counsel Services in Massachusetts before joining the OPD. Jennifer began her legal career at Massachusetts Correctional Legal Services, where she worked on the organization’s Prison Brutality Project investigating claims of prison violence and representing inmates housed in solitary confinement at super maximum security prisons in civil rights lawsuits against correctional facilities and individual officers.

Jennifer is a faculty member at trial advocacy programs across the country including the National Criminal Defense College and the National Forensic College. She speaks nationally at professional conferences about issues surrounding legal representation for the accused. She a trustee of the Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers of New Jersey and serves on the Advisory Boards of the New Jersey Institute of Technology’s Forensic Science Major and the State of New Jersey’s newly formed Conviction Review Unit. A graduate of Suffolk University Law School, Jennifer obtained a B.S. degree in public relations from Boston University. When she is not training lawyers or advocating for clients, Jennifer and her partner operate D/V Tenacious, a dive vessel that discovers, explores, and salvages shipwrecks in the North Atlantic. Jennifer is both a diver and a United States Coast Guard licensed ship captain.

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Recent Teaching History

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Dumaka Shabazz

Federal Public Defender, Middle District of Tennessee

Dumaka Shabazz is a federal public defender based in Nashville, Tennessee, where he represents clients charged with fraud, homicide, and other violent, white-collar or large-scale narcotics crimes. Before joining the Federal Public Defender’s Office in 2010, Professor Shabazz was a criminal defense attorney in private practice for five years. He began his legal career in the Davidson County District Attorney’s Office, where he prosecuted criminal cases through negotiation, motions practice and trials, and participated in numerous jury trials involving crimes from DUI to homicide.…Read More
Work 810 Broadway Suite 200 Nashville TN 37203 TPI Attendance: June, 2014
Biography

Dumaka Shabazz is a federal public defender based in Nashville, Tennessee, where he represents clients charged with fraud, homicide, and other violent, white-collar or large-scale narcotics crimes. Before joining the Federal Public Defender’s Office in 2010, Professor Shabazz was a criminal defense attorney in private practice for five years. He began his legal career in the Davidson County District Attorney’s Office, where he prosecuted criminal cases through negotiation, motions practice and trials, and participated in numerous jury trials involving crimes from DUI to homicide.

He is a staff teacher at the New Defender College for newly hired federal public defenders, based in Santa Fe, New Mexico, and has been a guest lecturer at Vanderbilt University and Sewanee—The University of the South. At Vanderbilt, he teaches Trial Advocacy.

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Laurie Shanks

Emeritus Faculty

Laurie Shanks has been a criminal defense attorney for almost 40 years. In addition, she is an Emerita Clinical Professor of Law at Albany Law School, where she taught Client Interviewing and Counseling, Fact Investigation, Negotiations and Trial Practice and Advocacy courses. She served on the New York Task Force on the Future of Indigent Defense and the Task Force on Wrongful Convictions.…Read More
Home 7 W Bayberry Rd Glenmont NY 12077
Biography

Laurie Shanks has been a criminal defense attorney for almost 40 years. In addition, she is an Emerita Clinical Professor of Law at Albany Law School, where she taught Client Interviewing and Counseling, Fact Investigation, Negotiations and Trial Practice and Advocacy courses. She served on the New York Task Force on the Future of Indigent Defense and the Task Force on Wrongful Convictions. She attended NCDC as a participant in 1981 and has been a faculty member since 1988. She is a frequent lecturer at conferences and seminars throughout the country on the topics of cross-examination in cases of child sexual abuse, opening statements and closing arguments, voir dire, client interviewing and counseling, trial preparation and client-centered representation.

Laurie has substantial and wide-ranging experience in criminal justice systems in the United States and abroad. She was invited to Tula Russia to assist judges and attorneys in the implementation of a jury system in criminal trials. She taught a comparative Trial Practice class in Paris, France and was invited to be one of the plenary speakers at the Pacific Judicial Council in Pohnpei, Micronesia. Additionally, she has provided extensive training to the attorneys and investigators at the Guam Public Defenders Office and taught at the University of Chile in Santiago as a Fulbright Specialist in October 2018.”

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Bart Sheela

Attorney

I have been a practicing criminal defense attorney for over 40 years. I retired from the San Diego Public defender office in August 2021. I’m still actively involved in training younger lawyers. I have served on the board of the California Public Defenders Association for over 20 years and was president in 2007.Read More
Work 7514 Girard Ave., Ste.1-204 La Jolla CA 92037 TPI Attendance: July, 1981
Biography

I have been a practicing criminal defense attorney for over 40 years. I retired from the San Diego Public defender office in August 2021. I’m still actively involved in training younger lawyers. I have served on the board of the California Public Defenders Association for over 20 years and was president in 2007.

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Recent Teaching History

2022 NCDC Trial Practice Institute (June Session)
2022 Winter Online Cross (January/​February 2022)
2021 Online Cross (February/​March 2021)
2020 Online Cross (June Session)
2020 Online Cross (July Session)
2019 Trial Practice Institute in Bristol (June Session)
2018 Trial Practice institute in Macon (June Session)
2017 Trial Practice Institute (June Session)
2016 Trial Practice Institute (June Session)
2015 Trial Practice Institute (June Session)

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Jeff Sherr

Training Director, National Association for Public Defense

Jeff Sherr is the Training Director for the National Association for Public Defense producing hundreds of webinars for public defense professionals across the nation. Prior to that he was the Manager of the Education and Strategic Planning Branch of the Kentucky Department of Public Advocacy. Jeff started with the DPA since 1994, starting first as a law clerk, then working with the Juvenile Post Dispositional Unit, then in the trial division with the Stanford Field Office, and now in Frankfort with the education staff.…Read More
Work 124 Laurel Way Frankfort KY 40383 TPI Attendance: June, 2004
Biography

Jeff Sherr is the Training Director for the National Association for Public Defense producing hundreds of webinars for public defense professionals across the nation. Prior to that he was the Manager of the Education and Strategic Planning Branch of the Kentucky Department of Public Advocacy. Jeff started with the DPA since 1994, starting first as a law clerk, then working with the Juvenile Post Dispositional Unit, then in the trial division with the Stanford Field Office, and now in Frankfort with the education staff. Jeff graduated from the University of Kentucky College of Law in 1995. Jeff has been a faculty member for Gideon’s Promise, the National Criminal Defense College, Clarence Darrow Death Penalty College, Harvard Trial Advocacy Workshop, Bronx Defender Academy, and other state litigation institutes.

In addition to regularly training public defender litigators and trainers, Jeff trains public defender leaders nationally and for many individual defender states and offices. Jeff also has an extensive background in theatre having studied with the National Shakespeare Conservatory and the University of Kansas. Jeff performs regularly with Central Kentucky Improv in Lexington, Kentucky and at Improv Festivals across the country.

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Recent Teaching History 

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David Shircliff

Criminal Defense at Shircliff Law

David started his career as a Death Penalty mitigation specialist and post-conviction relief lawyer at the Indiana State Public Defender. He has represented thousands of clients in cases from misdemeanor to murder, and as lead counsel, has represented clients in more than 120 jury trials and hundreds of bench trials as a trial deputy at the Marion County Public Defender Agency in Indianapolis.…Read More
Work 11473 Loch Raven Blvd Bedford IN 46037 TPI Attendance: June, 2002
Biography

David started his career as a Death Penalty mitigation specialist and post-conviction relief lawyer at the Indiana State Public Defender. He has represented thousands of clients in cases from misdemeanor to murder, and as lead counsel, has represented clients in more than 120 jury trials and hundreds of bench trials as a trial deputy at the Marion County Public Defender Agency in Indianapolis. IN 2015 he was hired to become the Chief Public Defender of Lawrence County in Bedford, Indiana where he transformed the way the County dealt with drug charges, shifting the primary focus to treatment. IN 2020, he opened his own law office; Shircliff Law, focused on criminal defense and trial coaching.

David has an MSW and is a nationally recognized trainer, teacher and coach in the areas of criminal defense, trial skills and dealing with secondary trauma. He is passionate about creating new, transformative, hands on workshops that empower defenders to create strong client relations, to hone their trial skills, and to have fulfilling lives outside of criminal defense, by recognizing and effectively combatting the personal, psychological and emotional toll caused by the trauma of doing this work.

He teaches Trial Practice at the I.U. Mckinney School of Law in Indianapolis. He has been a faculty member of the Trial Practice Institute in Indiana, and has been trained by Gerry Spence at the Trial Lawyers College in Dubois, Wyoming.

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Recent Teaching History 

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Jane Siegel

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Natasha Perdew Silas

Senior Litigation Attorney; Federal Defender Program, Inc.

Natasha Perdew Silas became the Dean of the National Criminal Defense College in August of 2017 along with new bestie Karen Smolar. Together they are the third Deans of NCDC. For the past two plus years, Karen and Tasha have worked tirelessly to honor the legacy of the College, to move it forward, and to help it in all ways fulfill its mission of pursuing justice by empowering defenders.…Read More
Work 101 Marietta Street, NW, Suite 1500 Atlanta GA 30303 TPI Attendance: June, 1995
Biography

Natasha Perdew Silas became the Dean of the National Criminal Defense College in August of 2017 along with new bestie Karen Smolar. Together they are the third Deans of NCDC. For the past two plus years, Karen and Tasha have worked tirelessly to honor the legacy of the College, to move it forward, and to help it in all ways fulfill its mission of pursuing justice by empowering defenders.

Tasha has twenty-five years of experience as a trial lawyer with the Federal Defender Program in the Northern District of Georgia, where she now serves as a Senior Litigation Attorney still representing clients before the district and circuit courts.

Tasha credits NCDC with helping her to find her voice and power in the courtroom and she has a passion for helping others in their quests to continually improve courtroom advocacy. Tasha has taught extensively in the State of Georgia, in various other states, and also internationally in the Republic of Georgia. She is a proud member of the Georgia Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers and the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers. She is a Fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers. She has received a number of awards for her work and advocacy including from the Southern Center for Human Rights and the Gate City Bar Association.

Tasha lives in Atlanta, Georgia with her husband and two children.

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Recent Teaching History

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Fredilyn Sison

Attorney at Law

Where hasn’t Fredi worked? She’s been an Assistant Federal Defender in Omaha, Nebraska; Boise, Idaho; Reno, Nevada and Asheville, North Carolina, with side stops in Washington, DC as visiting counsel at the Defender Training Branch and at the U.S. Sentencing Commission. She’s in such “high demand” that she recently received a recruiting email asking her if she would like to be a legal assistant in an up and coming workers’ comp firm.…Read More
Work PO Box 2432 Asheville NC 28802 TPI Attendance: June, 1993
Biography

Where hasn’t Fredi worked? She’s been an Assistant Federal Defender in Omaha, Nebraska; Boise, Idaho; Reno, Nevada and Asheville, North Carolina, with side stops in Washington, DC as visiting counsel at the Defender Training Branch and at the U.S. Sentencing Commission. She’s in such “high demand” that she recently received a recruiting email asking her if she would like to be a legal assistant in an up and coming workers’ comp firm. She wrote back thanking them but she was having too much fun being an advocate for poor people and had to decline their lovely offer. Then she killed her LinkedIn account.

An honors grad of Cornell University and New York University School of Law, Fredi has served on the faculty for numerous programs around the country. Her favorite tag line during her teaching sessions is, “You understand this is interactive, right?” To date, no one has successfully slunk down low enough for her to not make eye contact and ask for a volunteer.

Fredi co-authored Trial in Action: The Persuasive Power of Psychodrama and expects to be an answer to a trivia question one day because of it. She’s written article/chapters on various topics: child pornography, voir dire, cross examination and the effects of incarceration on families. Her two passions are psychodrama (where she’s certified as a practitioner, not to be confused with being certified period) and Improv. She will play improv games all day if allowed, and you’ll often hear her muttering, “Whoosh, Bang, Pow!”

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Recent Teaching History 

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James Smith , III

James Smith Attorney at Law

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Work 201 East Pine St, Suite 446 Orlando FL 32801
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Recent Teaching History

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Karen Smolar

Training Director, Committee for Public Counsel Services

Karen Smolar is the Legal Training Director of the Criminal Practice at the Committee for Public Counsel Services in Massachusetts, where she develops and conducts innovative trial training programs for every public defender and court-appointed attorney representing the indigent accused statewide. At CPCS, Karen also lends her expertise to other practice areas in the Training Department to help conceptualize curriculum across the agency.…Read More
Work Cranston RI TPI Attendance: June, 2007
Biography

Karen Smolar is the Legal Training Director of the Criminal Practice at the Committee
for Public Counsel Services in Massachusetts, where she develops and conducts
innovative trial training programs for every public defender and court-appointed attorney
representing the indigent accused statewide. At CPCS, Karen also lends her expertise
to other practice areas in the Training Department to help conceptualize curriculum
across the agency. In addition, Karen is a member of the agency’s Anti-Racism Team,
and she serves as lead on its DEI Recruitment Sub-Committee.

Karen spent her three previous decades representing the indigent accused in New York
City, including twenty years of dedicated work at The Bronx Defenders. Karen spent a
decade their Trial Chief, deservedly earning the informal title of Persuasion Guru.
Karen’s time at The Bronx Defenders was marked by formal and informal brainstorming
of a countless number of cases, as she mentored, trained, and supervised dozens and
dozens of younger public defenders representing clients charged with nearly every
crime imaginable.

Karen’s trial training legacy lives on at The Bronx Defenders, embodied in the
Defenders' Academy, the annual, intensive five-day program that Karen created from
scratch in 2007. The Academy was the first training program in the country to focus on
the intersection between trial skills and performance work, and it continues to attract
and welcome interested attorneys in criminal, family, and civil practices from across the
United States. Many Academy graduates from over the years would acknowledge the
debt they owe to Karen when they speak of having been “Smolarized” in their approach
to trial work.

Since 2017, Karen has also been the co-Dean at the National Criminal Defense
College, America’s preeminent trial training school for criminal defense practitioners.
Prior to her appointment as Dean, Karen had served for a decade on the College’s
faculty as a presenter, lecturer, and small-group leader. Her work at the College allows
her to develop and implement creative programming and pedagogy to train lawyers
from around the country and beyond. Since her Deanship began, Karen has been
especially proud of both the College’s successful efforts to diversify its faculty, staff, and
participants as well as the College curriculum’s new emphasis on racial and social
justice.

Karen is herself a renowned lecturer and guest trainer on everything from storytelling to
closing argument, cross-examining expert witnesses to voir dire, having presented at
trainings for the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, the New York State
Defenders Association, and many other state-wide public defender offices around the
country. Karen also has more than a decade of experience teaching in law school
classrooms. She is currently an Adjunct Professor of Law at Roger Williams University
School of Law in Rhode Island, where she is a sought-after Trial Advocacy Instructor
and where she coaches the school’s Trial Team. Before moving to Rhode Island, Karen
served in similar positions at St. John’s School of Law in New York and at Seton Hall
Law School in New Jersey.

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William Snowden

New Orleans Director, Vera Institute of Justice

Will's legal career began as a public defender in New Orleans, LA, where he witnessed the discriminatory practices removing jurors from the jury panel and took his fight from the courtroom to the community and created The Juror Project--which is his passion project. Will presents at high schools, colleges, churches and other community gatherings discussing the importance of jury service, the discriminatory practices of some prosecutors, and the factors at play removing diversity from the jury.…Read More
Work 1307 Oretha Castle Haley Blvd. #203 New Orleans LA 70113 TPI Attendance: June, 2023
Biography

Will’s legal career began as a public defender in New Orleans, LA, where he witnessed the discriminatory practices removing jurors from the jury panel and took his fight from the courtroom to the community and created The Juror Project–which is his passion project. Will presents at high schools, colleges, churches and other community gatherings discussing the importance of jury service, the discriminatory practices of some prosecutors, and the factors at play removing diversity from the jury.

Will completed his undergraduate studies at the University of Minnesota and earned his law degree from Seton Hall University School of Law. He currently works with the Vera Institute of Justice as the Director of the New Orleans office.

Notes

Recent Teaching History

2022 Winter Online Cross (January/​February 2022)

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Callie Steele

Deputy Trial Chief, Santa Barbara County Office of the Public Defender

Callie Glanton Steele has devoted her career to the defense of indigent clients for the past 31 years. Since July 25, 2022, she has been the Deputy Trial Chief for the South County at the Santa Barbara County Public Defender’s Office. Prior that that position, for 30 years, she worked at the Office of the Federal Public Defender for the Central District of California.…Read More
Work TPI Attendance: July, 1994
Biography

Callie Glanton Steele has devoted her career to the defense of indigent clients for the past 31 years. Since July 25, 2022, she has been the Deputy Trial Chief for the South County at the Santa Barbara County Public Defender’s Office. Prior that that position, for 30 years, she worked at the Office of the Federal Public Defender for the Central District of California. She was the Senior Litigator from September of 2015 to the present, primarily handling complex cases. Also, she was a Supervising Deputy Federal Public Defender (2002 to September of 2015) and a Deputy Federal Public Defender in the trial unit (1992 to 2002). In 2000 and 2001, she was on a temporary duty assignment in Washington, D.C., where she was Special Counsel to the United States Sentencing Commission (November of 2000 to May of 2001), and a Visiting Defender at Defender Services Division with the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts (May to November of 2001), working in the Legal and Policy Division. She graduated from UCLA School of Law in 1991, and served as a judicial extern for the Honorable Terry J. Hatter, Jr., United States District Judge in the fall of 1990.

Ms. Steele represents clients in complex cases and has written and argued multiple appeals before the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. In addition, she teaches Trial Advocacy at Loyola Law School.

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Recent Teaching History 

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Michael Stout

Faculty Emeriuts

Michael L. Stout is a trial attorney specializing in Criminal Law. He received a J.D. from the University of New Mexico School of Law and is a Recognized Specialist in Criminal Law. He often teaches other lawyers throughout the nation through workshops and seminars, especially in the area of jury selection. Michael has been on the faculty of the National Criminal Defense College for 36 years.…Read More
Attorney, Law Offices of Michael L. Stout Work 6665 Vista De Oro Las Cruces, NM 88007 TPI Attendance: June, 1978
Biography

Michael L. Stout is a trial attorney specializing in Criminal Law. He received a J.D. from the University of New Mexico School of Law and is a Recognized Specialist in Criminal Law. He often teaches other lawyers throughout the nation through workshops and seminars, especially in the area of jury selection.

Michael has been on the faculty of the National Criminal Defense College for 36 years. He was the first chair of the New Mexico Public Defense Commission and remains a member of the Commission.  Michael also serves as the acting President of New Mexico Justice, a Criminal Justice PAC.  He is an AV rated attorney and has been named in every issue of the Best Lawyers of America, SuperLawyers, and most recently on America’s Top 100 Criminal Defense Attorneys.

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Recent Teaching History

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Dean Strang

Distinguished Professor in Residence

Dean A. Strang is a Distinguished Professor in Residence at Loyola University Chicago School of Law, and a criminal defense lawyer. He is known for his work in a trial documented in Netflix’s Making A Murderer and for his books of legal history, Keep the Wretches in Order: America's Biggest Mass Trial, the Rise of the Justice Department, and the Fall of the IWW; and Worse Than the Devil: Anarchists, Clarence Darrow, and Justice in a Time of Terror.…Read More
Loyola University Chicago School of Law Work 25 E. Pearson Street, Unit 105 Madison WI 53703 TPI Attendance: June, 1995
Biography

Dean A. Strang is a Distinguished Professor in Residence at Loyola University Chicago School of Law, and a criminal defense lawyer. He is known for his work in a trial documented in Netflix’s Making A Murderer and for his books of legal history, Keep the Wretches in Order: America’s Biggest Mass Trial, the Rise of the Justice Department, and the Fall of the IWW; and Worse Than the Devil: Anarchists, Clarence Darrow, and Justice in a Time of Terror. He also has written several law review articles. Mr. Strang’s past work includes five years as Wisconsin’s first Federal Defender. He has argued in the United States Supreme Court and five federal Courts of Appeal. Mr. Strang is a co-founder of the Center for Integrity in Forensic Sciences and a member of the American Law Institute since 2004. He lives in Madison, Wisconsin.

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University of Virginia, 1995

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Dr. SunWolf

Dr. SunWolf was Training Director for Colorado's Public Defender Office when she left to get her Master’s and Ph.D. at the University of California, studying juries and persuasion. Two decades of trial work as a criminal defense attorney included a three-year stint in the appellate division. Now a professor studying social behavior, her research has won numerous national awards, including her book, "Practical Jury Dynamics2: From One Juror's Trial Perception to the Group's Decision-Making Processes," translating academic concepts into practical trial tools.…Read More
Biography

Dr. SunWolf was Training Director for Colorado’s Public Defender Office when she left to get her Master’s and Ph.D. at the University of California, studying juries and persuasion. Two decades of trial work as a criminal defense attorney included a three-year stint in the appellate division. Now a professor studying social behavior, her research has won numerous national awards, including her book, “Practical Jury Dynamics2: From One Juror’s Trial Perception to the Group’s Decision-Making Processes,” translating academic concepts into practical trial tools. She published a new theory (Decisional Regret Theory), which explains how deliberating jurors use counterfactual thinking to avoid anxiety about unwanted verdict outcomes. Her newest book is: “God-Thinking: Every Juror’s Moral Brain” (LexisNexis). As a trial attorney, she survived angry judges, misguided prosecutors, strange juries, and the most creative of clients.

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Ryan Swingle

Attorney, Ryan J. Swingle, Attorney at Law, LLC

Ryan is a criminal defense attorney based in Athens, Georgia who practices in both federal and state courts. Ryan is a former state public defender and state capital defender. Ryan began his legal career in 2001 as an Athens public defender. For 12 years, Ryan dedicated himself to defending indigent defendants in Athens on cases ranging from disorderly conduct to murder.…Read More
Work 244 E. Washington Street Athens GA 30601 TPI Attendance: July, 2004
Biography

Ryan is a criminal defense attorney based in Athens, Georgia who practices in both federal and state courts. Ryan is a former state public defender and state capital defender. Ryan began his legal career in 2001 as an Athens public defender. For 12 years, Ryan dedicated himself to defending indigent defendants in Athens on cases ranging from disorderly conduct to murder. During his five years as lead attorney for the Northeast Georgia Capital Defender Office, none of the office’s clients were sentenced to death. Ryan’s current private practice focuses 100% on criminal defense. Ryan is an experienced trial lawyer having tried all manner of misdemeanor and felony cases. Ryan is also a faculty member of the National Criminal Defense College Trial Practice Institute.

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Recent Teaching History

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Mary Ann Tally

Judge

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Cumberland County Courthouse Work 117 Dick St. Fayetteville NC 28301
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TPI Graduate

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Richard Tegtmeier

Attorney

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Sherman and Howard Work 633 17th St., Ste. 3000 Denver CO 80202
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TPI Graduate

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Colette Tvedt

The Law Firm of Colette Tvedt LLC

COLETTE TVEDT is the founder and owner of Tvedt Law, where she represents individuals charged with complex felony cases in state and federal court. Prior to starting her law firm in Denver, she served as the Director of Public Defense Training and Reform for the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers (NACDL). In that capacity, she focused on developing and delivering premier training programs for public defense provider’s nationwide focusing on racism in the criminal justice system, police misconduct, pretrial detention, challenging forensic evidence, and trial skills.…Read More
Work 1600 Stout Street, Suite 1400 Denver CO TPI Attendance: June, 1999
Biography

COLETTE TVEDT is the founder and owner of Tvedt Law, where she represents individuals charged with complex felony cases in state and federal court. Prior to starting her law firm in Denver, she served as the Director of Public Defense Training and Reform for the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers (NACDL). In that capacity, she focused on developing and delivering premier training programs for public defense provider’s nationwide focusing on racism in the criminal justice system, police misconduct, pretrial detention, challenging forensic evidence, and trial skills. Colette has devoted her career over the past 25 years to representing poor people accused of crimes.

Prior to moving to Denver, she was a public defender in Massachusetts and Washington State and in private practice as partner with the Seattle law firm, Schroeter, Goldmark & Bender. She has organized training programs for thousands of defense lawyers and served as a Clinical Professor of Law at Suffolk University Law School in Boston as well as an adjunct professor at the University of Washington School of Law and at Seattle University Law School. She is a faculty member and board member of the National Criminal Defense College (NCDC). Colette Tvedt is an honor graduate of Rutgers University, where she also attended law school. She is a certified yoga instructor.

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Recent Teaching History