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Seminars

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This page lists upcoming seminars and CLE training sessions.  For registration and/or further information (if available), click on the seminar name.

If you know of a seminar of interest to the Louisiana indigent defense community that is not listed here, please let us know.
 

 

Liaison Training for Defense Initiated Victim Outreach in Louisiana Capital Cases

December 8-12, 2008 at Loyola Law School in New Orleans, 9-5 pm daily.

The Southern Council for Restorative Justice (gcrj.org) is offering a 40 hour weeklong training for those interested in obtaining the necessary skill set and theoretical background to offer expertise as victim liaisons in capital cases.  One of the most daunting challenges in a capital case is reaching out to the loved ones of the deceased. However, this outreach can be one of the most important aspects of a case: easing the fraught relationship between the defense and the victim survivors; opening a line of communication and information sharing between the defense team and victim-survivors; educating the defense team on the perspectives of the victim-survivors and their interests in a capital case; and (in some instances) helping to broker a settlement acceptable to all stakeholders. The five-day interactive training is conducted by DIVO practitioners.  It includes principles of restorative justice, principles of defense initiated victim outreach practice, capital trial procedure, trauma and recovery theory, and interacting with families in crisis.  The training manual for the course was written by Howard Zehr, PhD., a noted restorative justice scholar from the Center for Justice and Peacebuilding at Eastern Mennonite University.

The Southern Council for Restorative Justice has had considerable success in victim outreach work.  It's staff has been responsible for training dozens of victim liaisons throughout the southeast and served as victim liaisons in numerous cases in mulitiple jurisdictions.

The training is free and open to practitioners with a background in social work, counseling, psychology, criminal justice, mediation, law or a related field.  Please contact Rachel Chmiel for additional information or to request an application:  rechmiel@aol.com; 678-427-4241.

 

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