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2026 Fall Meeting & Seminar

Hilton Salt Lake City Center Hotel, Salt Lake City, UT

Agenda Faculty Hotel Exhibitor/Sponsor Pricing Register Online Register by PDF

LOCATION: Hilton Salt Lake City Center Hotel, Salt Lake City, UT
DATES: October 7-10, 2026

Mental health and behavioral issues are present in a significant portion of criminal cases—but too often, they are misunderstood, underutilized, or mishandled in litigation. Beyond the Diagnosis is a comprehensive, defense-focused seminar designed to give defense practitioners practical, courtroom-ready tools for identifying, understanding, and litigating mental health and neurodevelopmental issues at every stage of a criminal case.

This seminar goes beyond labels and DSM checklists to explore how mental illness, trauma, and brain development actually affect behavior, decision-making, competency, and culpability—and how to translate that understanding into effective advocacy with judges and juries.

Attendees will gain insight into:
•    Trauma and criminal behavior, including Fight, Flight, Freeze, and Fawn responses and their relevance to mitigation, NCR, and defenses
•    Adolescent brain development and how it supports mitigation and defense strategies
•    NGI and competency, including when and how to litigate each effectively
•    Representing autistic clients, with a focus on communication, defenses, and mitigation
•    Practical strategies for communicating with mentally ill clients
•    Ethical challenges when litigating competency, forced medication, or NGI conflicts with a client’s expressed wishes
•    Effective cross-examination of the State’s expert in competency and mental health cases
•    Leveraging social workers and mental health professionals in trial preparation and sentencing advocacy
•    Red flags to identify mental health, neurodevelopmental, or cognitive issues during client meetings
•    Inside the mind of a psychotic client—and how to bring jurors into that reality
•    Political radicalization and hate crimes and the psychology behind them
•    The Sequential Intercept Model (Miami Model) and how it can inform defense strategy
•    Voir dire in cases involving mental illness
•    Presenting mitigation when NCR or competency are not viable
•    Challenging and combating the State’s expert’s diagnosis
•    Litigating competency, including commonly used evaluation instruments and applicable legal standards

Whether you handle misdemeanors, serious felonies, or capital cases, Beyond the Diagnosis will sharpen your ability to spot issues early, collaborate effectively with experts, and persuasively present mental health evidence—without losing sight of client autonomy and ethical obligations.

If you defend people, not crimes, this seminar is for you. Plan now to join your nationwide colleagues in Salt Lake City!


 

Agenda

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Faculty

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Hotel

Hilton Salt Lake City Center Hotel
255 South West Temple
Salt Lake City, UT 84101

Online Reservations: https://book.passkey.com/e/51154486
Phone Reservations: 801-328-2000 (select option 1 for reservations)
Group rate: $195 plus tax (expires September 15, 2026). Please mention NACDL to receive applicable discount rate. 
Rooms/discounted group rates are not guaranteed once the block has been filled.  

Sponsorship and Exhibits

Disclaimer: NACDL does not necessarily endorse or guarantee the quality, applicability, or discounts of the products and/or services of its exhibitors. Users of these products and/or services do so at their sole discretion and NACDL assumes no responsibility for them.

For information on exhibiting or sponsorships, please contact NACDL's Sales and Marketing Manager Jason Petty at jpetty@nacdl.org or call (202) 465-7637.

Sponsor/Exhibit Prospectus

NACDL would like to thank the following sponsors, exhibitors, and affinity partners for their support and contributions:

PLATINUM Sponsor:

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GOLD Sponsor:

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SILVER Sponsor:

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BRONZE Sponsor:

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Event Sponsors:

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Wi-Fi Sponsor:

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Seminar Materials Sponsor:

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Lanyards Sponsor:

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Tote Bag Sponsor:

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Conference Pen & Pads Sponsor:

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Exhibitors:

Garrett Discovery, Inc

Pricing

Register Online Register by PDF

Members of NACDL enjoy exclusive registration rates for our seminars along with all the benefits from joining.

Registration Fees
NACDL MEMBERS: Regular, Life, President's Club and Sustaining Members $449
NACDL MEMBERS: Public Defender, Associate, Investigator, Professor, New Lawyer, International and Military  $339
Non-Members: Private Practitioners (includes 1-year membership)  $788
Non-Member Public Defenders $379
Regional Lawyer Discount: ALL Utah, Arizona, Idaho, California, Colorado, New Mexico and Nevada Lawyers (Residents Only) $369
Groups of 4 or more PDs (must register at the same time; 1 payment; no changes or cancellations allowed). To register a group, please visit: http://www.nacdl.org/PDGroups $319
Non-Attendee Materials / Recordings
Audio Recording of Seminar (pre-sale) $225
Video Recording of Seminar (pre-sale) $299

CANCELLATIONS: There is a $75 cancellation fee. Cancellations must be received in writing via e-mail to cancel@nacdl.org by 5:30 pm E.T. Friday, October 2, 2026, to receive a refund, less the cancellation fee. No refunds can be issued after the cancellation deadline.

Code of Conduct

NACDL endeavors to foster a working, learning, and social environment free of harassment, discrimination, intimidation, and insult. To that end, NACDL has adopted a Code of Conduct for Affiliated Persons that applies to all attendees and participants of any kind at all NACDL sponsored events.

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