Upcoming HAT Seminars 

Capital Mitigation Skills Workshop
January 15-18, 2026
The University of Texas at Austin School of Law
Austin, TX

Program Description
The Sixteenth Capital Mitigation Skills Workshop, which began in 2012, consists of a combination of lectures and interactive exercises designed to develop the basic skills required in the development of mitigation evidence in death penalty cases. Utilizing a case hypothetical, participants will brainstorm about potential mitigation themes and identify “red flags” requiring investigation. Life-history records will also be reviewed to identify these mitigation themes, hypotheses, questions, and investigative follow-up.  Interviewing exercises in small groups will cover a variety of areas, including trauma, the signs and symptoms of mental disorders, and cognitive impairments and adaptive deficits. Participants will be asked to interview a variety of different witnesses, including the client and to draft a declaration.  The seminar will also emphasize the importance of case organization and provide a sample of a basic mitigation tool kit (including genograms and chronologies).

LIMITED ENROLLMENT
Attendance will be limited to thirty-six (36) participants, who will work in six small groups. Priority will be given to mitigation specialists and attorneys who are directly engaged in the mitigation function. We are also committed to increasing the
diversity of the pool of professionals engaged in this work. If you have attended this program in the past, please do not attempt to register again. We need to reserve the limited number of spaces for people who have not had the opportunity to attend previously.

HOTEL INFORMATION
A block of rooms has been reserved at the Residence Inn by Marriott Austin Downtown | Convention Center. Once your registration has been confirmed, you will receive details on how to make lodging arrangements in our group block.

CLE (Please read before registering):
We have applied for CLE accreditation in states that have mandatory requirements.  We regret that we cannot respond to telephone inquiries regarding the status of CLE approval prior to the workshop. 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 us to report your attendance 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 us being unable to process your CLE credits.

FEDERAL PUBLIC DEFENDER REGISTRANTS
If admitted into the program, there is no Conference Identification Number (CIN) for this event. However, if you reserve your lodging under the room block by the cut-off date, your lodging will be placed on our master account. The name used during registration must match the name used when reserving your hotel reservation, if the names do not exactly match, we will not be able to cover your lodging cost. Don’t forget, you MUST also register using your fd.org email.

REGISTER TODAY!
We ask that you use your work email address for registration purposes and to help eliminate duplication. For registration, please use this ATTENDEE REGISTRATION LINK. You will be placed in “pending” status until we have an opportunity to confirm your eligibility for the program, and we will notify you within one week whether you have been accepted for the program. If you are
accepted, you will receive a confirmation email of your enrollment in the program, and you will be provided information on how to make your hotel reservation.

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.