Agenda Faculty CLE Hotel Exhibitor/Sponsor Scholarships 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

The program agenda and faculty are subject to change.

Faculty

Dr. Lori James, Ph.D., MSW, LCSW-C (Glen Burnie, MD) *NACDL MEMBER
Sedira Banan (Baltimore, MD) 
Damon Parrish II (Houston, TX)
Doug Passon (Scottsdale, AZ) *NACDL MEMBER
Kara Rolf (Racine, WI) *NACDL MEMBER
Prof. Clifford Rosky (Salt Lake City, UT)
Dr. Laurie Allyn Sperry, PhD., BCBA-D, LBA (Wheat Ridge, CO)
Dr. Frank Straub, Ph.D. (Richmond Hill, GA)
Colette Tvedt (Denver, CO) *NACDL MEMBER
Porsha-Shaf'on Venable (Bronx, NY)  *NACDL MEMBER
Dr. Dale G. Watson, Ph.D. (Antioch, CA)

CLE Information

NACDL is an accredited provider of CLE in all states requiring mandatory CLE Training. NACDL will apply for at least 13.00 credit hours in every state requiring pre-approval. Approved hours for each state will be identified at the seminar. Some states, IL, GA, NE, NM, PA, SC, TN and UT require additional fees by the attendee in order to receive credit.

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:

still available...

GOLD Sponsor:

SILVER Sponsor:

still available...

BRONZE Sponsor:

still available..

Event Sponsors:

still available...

Wi-Fi Sponsor:

still available...

Seminar Materials Sponsor:

still available...

Lanyards Sponsor:

still available...

Tote Bag Sponsor:

still available...

Conference Pen & Pads Sponsor:

still available...

Exhibitors:

Envista Forensics
Filevine
Garrett Discovery, Inc
Paradise Creek Recovery Center

Scholarships

NACDL offers a variety of scholarships for this event ranging from partially discounted to fully funded. Each type of scholarship has different application requirements. To apply for any of the following scholarships, please follow the instructions for that specific scholarship.

OPTION 1: Needs-Based Scholarships

Based on need, scholarships are available to NACDL members for up to 50% off the standard seminar fee of $449. Approved recipients are responsible for the remainder of the tuition fee, which is $225 (all other expenses are not included). The reduced scholarship fee includes seminar tuition, admission to all evening social events, and downloadable seminar materials. Travel, hotel, and other costs are not included.

To Apply: Prepare and e-mail a letter of no more than two pages explaining the reason why you believe you should receive the grant to: NACDL Senior Director of Events Akvile Athanason, at aathanason@nacdl.org.
All applications must be submitted before registering for the seminar and received by September 10, 2026.

NACDL MEMBERSHIP AND RESERVATION AT THE HOST HOTEL ARE REQUIRED TO BE ELIGIBLE FOR NEEDS-BASED SCHOLARSHIPS

OPTION 2: Public Defense Scholarships

As a result of generous grant funding, NACDL is able to offer scholarship assistance to public defense providers to attend this NACDL training program. Scholarships will be awarded in the form of full or partial reimbursement of the registration costs of the program. Limited travel reimbursement stipends may also be awarded to qualifying individuals to help defray the costs of travel and lodging.
Completed public defense scholarship applications should be emailed to: PDTScholarship@nacdl.org 

Apply for a Public Defense Scholarship  

Pricing

Register Online Register by PDF

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

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.

Explore keywords to find information

• Board Meeting
• Live
• NACDL

This is a sponsored ad

MyCase

Manage Your Law Firm All in One Place