NASAMS Annual Sentencing Advocacy Training

Conference Overview

The NASAMS Annual Sentencing Advocacy Training is the premier national sentencing advocacy event for lawyers, experts, sentencing advocates, and capital mitigation specialists. This three-day training event brings together all members of the defense team to improve their knowledge and skills in defense-based sentencing and mitigation practice.

For the first time, the NASAMS Sentencing Advocacy Training will be merged with NLADA’s Life in the Balance, to offer attendees increased opportunities for networking while continuing NASAMS tradition of multi-track sessions. By merging with Life in the Balance, participants will have the opportunity to choose from sessions targeting all areas of sentencing practice, including juvenile and non-capital cases, and capital mitigation.

"Rebuilding Communities … One Life at a Time"

This year’s Annual Sentencing Advocacy Training will focus on “Rebuilding Communities . . . One Life at a Time,” exploring the connections between sentencing advocacy and systemic issues that face many client communities. We will look at a range of issues, from risk and resiliency within our client’s lives, to reentry issues our clients face upon their release. No conference on sentencing advocacy would be complete without sessions on tools of the trade, and human behavior and functioning. Special sessions devoted to working with children and youth will round out the training agenda for all who attend.

Expert faculty will present on such topics as:

• Examining Risk and Protective Factors and How They Impact


• Behavior and Functioning


• Reentry Programs: Current Issues and Future Directions


• Finding Treatment Options in Rough Economic Times


• Identifying and Presenting Cognitive Impairment


• Cultural Influences on Behavior and Defense Strategy


• Mental Health Issues Impacting Juvenile Delinquency


• Ethics for Social Workers in Public Defender Offices


• Interviewing Skills, Analyzing Life History Records, and Effective & Persuasive Writing Techniques


• Using Technology to Get Your Point Across

New this Year:

For the first time, the NASAMS Sentencing Advocacy Training will be offered contemporaneously with NLADA’s Life in the Balance, to offer attendees increased opportunities for networking while continuing NASAMS’ tradition of multi-track sessions. By offering both conferences at the same location and on the same days, participants will have the opportunity to choose from sessions targeting all areas of sentencing practice, including juvenile and non-capital cases, and capital mitigation.

You may register to attend either two or three days of the conference, and will have the opportunity to select from sessions offered by both Life in the Balance and the Sentencing Advocacy Training.

Who should attend the NASAMS Sentencing Advocacy Training?:

The NASAMS Sentencing Advocacy Training is a must for . . .

• Sentencing advocates


• Mitigation specialists


• Forensic social workers in defense-based practice


• Defense attorneys


• Defense investigators


• Mental Health Experts


• Forensic experts


• Criminal justice professionals working in alternative sentencing or re-entry


• Restorative justice professionals


• Victim outreach specialists


• Community advocates who promote fair and equitable sentencing decisions