Criminal Law

Self-Guided Professional Development Plan

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Criminal Law

Self-Guided Professional Development Plan

Development Units Curated collections of videos, articles, checklists, and forms. $50.00 per unit; Members $45.00 per unit; New Lawyers $25.00 Free for OnlinePass subscribers.

New Lawyers - Get your first Development Unit FREE. Click the NEW LAWYER link next to a unit title to claim it as your free unit.

Development Units

Development Units
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Unit 1 expand

Overview of Criminal Practice in the Massachusetts Courts
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Last updated 04/21/2023

Unit 2 expand

The Charging Process
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Last updated 12/27/2022

Unit 3 expand

Developing the Theory of the Case and Other Strategies
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Last updated 12/27/2022

Unit 4 expand

Common Defenses
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Last updated 10/03/2023

Unit 5 expand

Ethics in Criminal Law Practice
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Last updated 10/14/2021

Unit 6 expand

Client and Witnesses
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Last updated 10/18/2023

Unit 7 expand

Arraignment and Bail
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Last updated 04/21/2023

Unit 8 expand

Detention Hearings
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Last updated 04/21/2023

Unit 9 expand

Mental Health Considerations
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Last updated 04/21/2023

Unit 10 expand

Search and Seizure
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Last updated 10/03/2023

Unit 11 expand

Discovery Practice
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Last updated 10/03/2023

Unit 12 expand

Special Problems in the Disclosure and Use of Privileged Information
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Last updated 10/03/2023

Unit 13 expand

Pretrial Preparation
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Last updated 10/03/2023

Unit 14 expand

Pretrial Conferences and Hearings
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Last updated 06/23/2022

Unit 15 expand

Motion Practice
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Last updated 10/03/2023

Unit 16 expand

Plea Bargaining
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Last updated 10/18/2023

Unit 17 expand

Interlocutory Appeals
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Last updated 10/18/2023

Unit 18 expand

The Media, the Open Courtroom and High-Profile Cases
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Last updated 04/21/2023

Unit 19 expand

Use of Experts & Forensic Evidence
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Last updated 10/18/2023

Unit 20 expand

Impaneling the Jury
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Last updated 10/03/2023

Unit 21 expand

Trial Practice Techniques
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Last updated 10/03/2023

Unit 22 expand

Selected Evidentiary Issues
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Last updated 10/03/2023

Unit 23 expand

Specific Issues with Respect to Children
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Last updated 10/03/2023

Unit 24 expand

Rule 25 Motions and Charging the Jury
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Last updated 07/20/2023

Unit 25 expand

The Verdict
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Last updated 02/10/2022

Unit 26 collapse

Sentencing
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Last updated 10/03/2023

Unit 27 expand

Post-Conviction Concerns
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Last updated 10/03/2023

Unit 28 expand

Collateral Consequences
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Last updated 10/03/2023

Unit 29 expand

Civil Forfeiture
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Last updated 12/27/2022

Unit 30 expand

Elements of Common Crimes
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Last updated 10/03/2023

Unit 31 expand

Motor Vehicle Offenses
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Last updated 10/03/2023

Unit 32 expand

Chapter 209A Restraining Orders
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Last updated 02/10/2022

Unit 33 expand

Drug Crimes
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Last updated 10/03/2023

Unit 34 expand

Sex Offenses
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Last updated 10/03/2023

Unit 35 expand

Homicide
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Last updated 07/20/2023

Unit 36 expand

Juvenile Law
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Last updated 10/03/2023
About this Plan
About this Plan

This professional development plan takes you step by step through the most essential elements of criminal law practice.

How to Use the Plan

Click on a unit to identify relevant online resources that have been selected from MCLE’s collection of programs and publications. Then click on any link to
- view a recommended program or specific lecture,
- read a relevant chapter,
- select a sample form, or
- choose a training module with a practical demonstration by MCLE's highly experienced faculty.
The resources identified represent only a small portion of what is available on MCLE’s website. To see what else is available on any given topic, click the “See All MCLE Resources” link at the bottom of each unit to conduct a search for other full programs, individual lectures, chapters and forms.

Ongoing Updates and Additions

We continue to work on this plan and are adding dynamic content to each of these topics on a regular basis, including new programs and lectures, information from our books, and demonstrations. Keep checking back for updates and new material. We also look forward to your suggestions on how we can make this plan the most effective tool for your professional development and training needs.

Other Available Resources

In addition to the resources available through the professional development plan, MCLE offers in-person programming for developing core competencies and providing opportunities to engage with the criminal law practice community. MCLE’s annual Criminal Law Conference and Juvenile Delinquency & Child Welfare Conference, provide cutting-edge analyses of the latest practice developments and opportunities to share ideas with attorneys in similar practices from around the state. If you are building a criminal law practice, be sure to attend MCLE’s Trial Advocacy Workshop offered every summer for an intensive week-long, hands-on bootcamp to help you hone your skills and learn the techniques needed to advocate for your clients.

Note to Firm Training Directors and Law School Librarians & Clinical Program Directors

MCLE’s professional development plans have been designed to complement in-house training and law school educational programs. Firms can tailor plans to the specific needs of their training programs—taking associates unit by unit through an entire practice area plan or targeting only the areas of greatest relevance. Law school faculty and clinical program directors can use professional development plans to identify lectures, demonstrations, articles and forms for use in the classroom, as a supplement to classroom presentations, or to support the student’s representation of clients in the school’s clinical program. If your firm or law school subscribes to the MCLE OnlinePass®, all the electronic resources included in MCLE’s professional development plans are instantly accessible to everyone in your firm or school.
Use Note

Use Note

All of Massachusetts Continuing Legal Education, Inc.'s ("MCLE's") products, services, and communications ("MCLE Products") are offered solely as an aid to developing and maintaining professional competence. The statements and other content in MCLE Products may not apply to your circumstances and no legal, tax, accounting, or other professional advice is being rendered by MCLE or its trustees, officers, sponsors, or staff, or by its authors, speakers, or other contributors. No attorney-client relationship is formed by the purchase, receipt, custody, or use of MCLE Products. The statements and other content in MCLE Products do not reflect a position of and are not ratified, endorsed, or verified by MCLE or its trustees, officers, sponsors, or staff. Contributors of statements and other content in MCLE Products are third-party contributors and are not agents of MCLE. No agency relationship, either express, implied, inherent or apparent, exists between MCLE and any third-party contributor to MCLE Products.

Due to the rapidly changing nature of the law, the statements and other content in MCLE Products may become outdated. Attorneys using MCLE Products should research original and current sources of authority. Nonattorneys using MCLE Products are encouraged to seek the legal advice of a qualified attorney.

By using MCLE Products, the user thereof agrees to the terms and conditions set forth herein, which are severable in the event that any provision is deemed unlawful, unenforceable, or void. To the fullest extent permitted by applicable law, MCLE Products are provided on an "As Is," "As Available" basis and no warranties or representations of any kind, express or implied, with respect to MCLE Products are made by MCLE or its trustees, officers, sponsors, or staff, individually or jointly. To the fullest extent permitted by applicable law, neither MCLE nor its trustees, officers, sponsors, or staff are responsible for the statements and other content in MCLE Products or liable for any claim, loss, injury, or damages of any kind (including, without limitations, attorney fees and costs) arising from or involving the use of MCLE Products.

Failure to enforce any provision of these terms and conditions will not be deemed a waiver of that provision or any other provision. These terms and conditions will be governed by the laws of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, notwithstanding any principles of conflicts of law. These terms and conditions may be changed from time to time without notice. Continued use of MCLE Products following any such change constitutes acceptance of the change.

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Criminal Law

Self-Guided Professional Development Plan

Criminal Law

Self-Guided Professional Development Plan

Development Units

Overview of Criminal Practice in the Massachusetts Courts

The Charging Process

Developing the Theory of the Case and Other Strategies

Common Defenses

Ethics in Criminal Law Practice

Client and Witnesses

Arraignment and Bail

Detention Hearings

Mental Health Considerations

Search and Seizure

Discovery Practice

Special Problems in the Disclosure and Use of Privileged Information

Pretrial Preparation

Pretrial Conferences and Hearings

Motion Practice

Plea Bargaining

Interlocutory Appeals

The Media, the Open Courtroom and High-Profile Cases

Use of Experts & Forensic Evidence

Impaneling the Jury

Trial Practice Techniques

Selected Evidentiary Issues

Specific Issues with Respect to Children

Rule 25 Motions and Charging the Jury

The Verdict

Sentencing

Post-Conviction Concerns

Collateral Consequences

Civil Forfeiture

Elements of Common Crimes

Motor Vehicle Offenses

Chapter 209A Restraining Orders

Drug Crimes

Sex Offenses

Homicide

Juvenile Law

About this Plan

Use Note