Upcoming HAT Seminars 

May 28-31, 2026
The American Hotel Atlanta, Downtown, Tapestry Collection by Hilton
Atlanta, GA

The Twenty-Third National Seminar on the Development and Integration of Mitigating Evidence in Capital Cases

Program Description

This seminar has been held annually since the Supreme Court decision in Wiggins v. Smith, 539 U.S. 510 (2003), which recognized the need for thorough mitigation investigation and acknowledged the importance of the non-lawyer who had compiled the mitigation in the successful post-conviction presentation.  Twenty-three years after Wiggins, this year's seminar will focus on developmental disabilities, including Intellectual Disability, FASD, and Autism.  The sessions that explore this area will cover a range of topics practitioners routinely confront when investigating this evidence and presenting it as the basis for an Atkins claim, a guilt phase defense, and/or as mitigation.  The conference will also cover psychosis and neuroimaging as well as advancements in understanding social determinants of mental health.  In addition, the program offers presentations that focus on the practical aspects of investigating and developing mitigation, including establishing rapport with witnesses, drafting declarations, integrating DIVO into the work, abiding by ethical guidelines, and debunking harmful psychiatric labels. As always, the faculty will include university-based researchers as well as litigators, mitigation specialists, and mental health experts.  Breakout sessions will include a beginners' track on mitigation basics as well as advanced workshops on specialized problems.

This seminar is designed for, and attendance is limited to, federal defenders, CJA panel attorneys, mitigation specialists, investigators, and attorneys interested in representing an individual in federal collateral review, and state court practitioners who are currently appointed or seeking appointment in a capital proceeding in federal court. Continuing Legal Education (CLE) accreditation for attorneys will be sought in all applicable jurisdictions.  There will be no tuition, and materials will be provided to participants free of charge. Space is limited to 200 attendees.

CIN NUMBER FOR FEDERAL PUBLIC DEFENDER REGISTRANTS 

If you are an employee of a federal public defender office, please provide the following Conference Identification Number (CIN) to the individual in your office who is responsible for processing the paperwork associated with authorizing your travel to this event: CONF260025. This code is needed to track the total funding spent on this event. 

CLE (Please read before registering): 

CLE accreditation has been applied for in states that have mandatory requirements. All information related to CLE will be emailed to attendees within 15-30 days following the program. 
• To minimize reporting fees per attorney/program, if you are barred in more than one of the following states NM, TN, PA, NE, attendance will be reported to one state only.  
• The attorney is responsible for making sure the appropriate state and bar number is on file with the DSO Training Division. 
• For applicable states, attendance will be reported using the bar number and state(s) listed on the registration form submitted for this program. 
• Failure to provide the state and bar number may result in the Training Division not being able to report your attendance. 

For your attendance to be reported for CLE purposes, during online registration, you must provide the following information: Bar numbers, including their respective states.  Only include those states where you are seeking credit.  

Attorneys seeking CLE credit must ensure that they stop by the program registration desk for daily check-in and check-out. Failure to follow these steps will result in your CLE credits not being processed.

SEMINAR REGISTRATION 

While registration is free to attendees, the Training Division of the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts' Defender Services Office (DSO-TD) covers the necessary funding to present this program. As a result, please register only if you can attend and if you are unable to attend, please notify DSO-TD immediately.  Please use your work email address for registration purposes. For registration, please CLICK HERE. A confirmation email will be sent to you after registering.  If you do not receive a confirmation email, please check your spam folder.  If you opted out of our emails, you would not receive a confirmation email.  

SCHEDULE 

We expect that on-site registration and materials pick-up will commence at 3:30 p.m. and the program will begin at 5:00 p.m. on Thursday, May 28th, and the seminar will conclude by 12:00 noon on Sunday, May 31, 2026.  

If you have any logistical questions or require additional information, please contact Chastain Smith via email at Chastain_Smith@ao.uscourts.gov. All registration and/or CLE inquiries should go to Shiloh Puello at Shiloh_Puello@ao.uscourts.gov.  

SAVE THE DATE

The Persuasion Institute: A Workshop in Legal Storytelling

and Narrative Construction for Capital Post-Conviction Counsel

June 29 – July 1, 2026 (Monday-Wednesday)

Cornell Law School

Ithaca, NY

Registration Will Open in Early April

Program Description

This unique and innovative program was designed by Professor Anthony G. Amsterdam, together with HAT counsel, to improve habeas advocacy by teaching participants techniques that can be used in persuasive oral and written advocacy, including the effective use of narrative tools such as the “elements” of story, theme choice, plot, setting, perspective, and sequence. This will be accomplished in a non-traditional manner by bringing together capital post-conviction attorneys, professional non-fiction, and fiction writers, and legal as well as literary academics working together in developing and conveying to participants persuasive advocacy techniques in a combined lecture, group brainstorming session and small group discussion formats.