Why attend?

If you are a Massachusetts lawyer in good standing, have been accepted by a county bar advocate program, and are interested in providing a high level of legal representation to serve the particular needs of both the criminally accused and juveniles in delinquency proceedings in Massachusetts, consider applying to the CPCS Bar Advocate Program.

Zealous Advocacy in the District and Juvenile Courts is a unique opportunity to use and improve your trial skills while performing a meaningful and much needed service to the community. The Committee for Public Counsel Services offers the training lawyers need to become state-certified bar advocates, representing indigent clients in criminal cases in the District Courts and juvenile delinquency cases in the Juvenile Courts. Zealous Advocacy in the District and Juvenile Courts, sponsored by CPCS and offered on several dates throughout the year at MCLE, is the centerpiece of the certification process. Attorneys accepted to the Bar Advocate Program must enroll and complete the prerequisite program, Zealous Advocacy in the District and Juvenile Courts, a five-day training that introduces you to the basics of the district and juvenile court criminal justice system including arraignment and bail advocacy, understanding and maximizing the pretrial conference, sentencing, ethical representation of the criminally accused, discovery, investigation practices and techniques, building the appellate record, effective motions practice, and the jury-of-six session.

The program features top-rate training by recognized experts, who critique your performance on your feet and provide unique and practical perspectives on how you can become more effective. The skills you acquire in this five-day, intensive training equip you to accept appointments as a bar advocate while being compensated by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts for your work.

What the intensive five-day course teaches

Zealous Advocacy in the District and Juvenile Courts is a comprehensive review of substantive law and procedural requisites in district and juvenile court criminal matters. The following is a typical curriculum (format may vary) for the intensive, five-day training, incorporating lecture, group exercises, and demonstrations from the expert faculty:

DAY 1

Lecture: Introduction to CPCS and to Zealous Advocacy

Lecture: Overview of the Massachusetts Criminal Justice System

Lecture: Bail, Initial Interview Preparation, and Hearing; Section 58A

Group Exercise: The Bail Hearing

Lecture: The Theory of the Case; The Trial Notebook

Lecture: Opening Statements

DAY 2

Lecture: The Pretrial Conference; Discovery; Motion Practice

Group Exercise: Making an Opening Statement

Demonstration: Opening Statements

Lecture: Cross-Examination

Lecture: Impeachment

Lecture: The Juvenile Court - Jurisdiction and The Role of the Attorney

DAY 3

Group Exercise: Cross-Examination

Demonstration: Cross-Examination

Lecture: Sentencing; Pleas and Plea Bargaining

Lecture: The Juvenile Court - Bail; Pretrial Preparation; Overview of Delinquency Dispositions

DAY 4

Group Exercise: Juvenile Court Exercises

Lecture: Probation Surrenders

Lecture: Sexual Offender Registry; SDP and Other Collateral Consequences of Convictions

Lecture: Substantive Motions

Lecture: Jury Issues; Empanelment; Instructions; Questions; Deadlock

Lecture: Direct Examination

Lecture: Closing Arguments

DAY 5

Demonstration: Impeachment

Group Exercise: Impeachment

Group Exercise: Closing Argument

Demonstration: Closing Argument

Lecture: Evidentiary Issues and Objections

Lecture: Ethics

Lecture: Concluding Remarks

Acceptance prerequisite

You must apply directly to, and be accepted by, a bar advocate program. That bar advocate program will submit your name and application to CPCS for consideration for eligibility for the program. CPCS, not MCLE, will then determine whether to accept you, and will notify you directly of such acceptance. Only upon notification by CPCS of your acceptance will MCLE be able to process your registration.

Monday, March 16, 2008

How to become certified as a CPCS bar advocate