California Public Defenders Association Information

The overall goal of the association is to provide continuing legal education for its membership and to serve as a “back up” resource center for those in the practice of criminal defense law, thereby increasing the professionalism of the defender community. The organization provides 18 - 20 on-site continuing legal education training programs for local public defenders and private defenders throughout California on a yearly basis, with a total attendance of over 1800 per year. This training helps local defenders complete their required minimum continuing legal education requirements with the California State Bar. The organization provides legal research and training capabilities for its membership through internet web servers and list servers which enable attorneys to communicate with one-another on current legal issues, researching through a total of over 12,000 practice files on line with the organization. The organization publishes manuals for members of the association on nearly all topics covering criminal defense practice. Course syllabi are produced for each on-site training program and are later available for use by other attorneys who were unable to attend the local programs. The organization publishes a law library of California case law decisions by California appellate courts dating from 1934 to current that is sold on compact disc and via the internet only to members of the association that is used by members for legal research in their individual practices. The compact discs and internet-based databases also contain practice materials (sample forms, motions, briefs, case digests) that help the individual member in their legal practice. The organization maintains a substantial library of video self-study programs for use by members of the association.