Presenters Resources Register Now
NACDL invites you to join us for a virtual discussion on defendants' relationships with their appellate and postconviction attorneys. This presentation and panel discussion will explore how clients see their defense attorney, how those experiences impact perceptions of the criminal legal system, and how attorneys can encourage, or stifle, their clients' developing legal knowledge.
- Date: Thursday, May 8th, 2025
- Time: 3:00 - 4:30 pm ET | 12:00 - 1:30 pm PT
- Cost: FREE, but registration is required
- CLE: No CLE is being offered for this program.
Dr. Belén Lowrey-Kinberg and Professor Elizabeth Webster will present on their research, which observes that cooperative attorney-client relationships encouraged defendants to become a contributing member of their legal team. They will also provide recommendations--based on interviews with exonerated people--for how appellate and post-conviction counsel can provide more impactful communication with their clients. Joining them for a robust panel discussion is Calvin Duncan. Mr. Duncan spent 28 years in prison for a crime he did not commit. Mr. Duncan will draw on his decades of experience as a jailhouse lawyer in Angola, as well as his current experiences as a licensed attorney working to ensure those incarcerated understand and access the legal system. The panel will discuss attorney client relationships, collaborative appellate defense, and how attorneys can encourage, support, and benefit from their clients' developing legal knowledge.
*Note: To encourage open discussion and dialogue, we will be following the Chatham House Rule. This allows attendees, including media representatives, to use the information shared during the program, but they cannot reveal the identity or affiliation of the speaker. For any questions regarding this policy, please contact Bonnie Hoffman, NACDL Director of Public Defense.
Presenters:
Calvin Duncan, Educator and Legal Advocate, Louisiana
Belén Lowrey-Kinberg, Researcher, Department of Criminology, Law and Society, University of California, Irvine
Elizabeth Webster, Associate Professor, Department of Criminal Justice and Criminology, Loyola University Chicago
Resources:
- Defenselessness: Ensuring the Right to Counsel Through Meaningful Communication, NACDL, Webinar, 2025.
- Right to Counsel, What It Is and What it Isn’t: A Community Discussion, NACDL, Webinar, 2024.
- How to Engage the New Client, Denis deVlaming, The Champion, NACDL, (March 2019).
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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