The Commission provides training to its attorneys in a number of ways. Once a year, the Commission convenes a Public Defender Conference that provides six hours of training, including one hour of legal ethics. The Conference is held in Virginia and is staffed by high quality speakers and trainers who donate their time and expertise to improving the quality of Virginia’s indigent defense.
In order to assure the high quality of its non-attorney professional staff, the VIDC also sponsors training conferences for its office managers, investigators and sentencing advocates. Finally, the Commission provides funding each year for attorneys, investigators, and sentencing advocates to attend specialized training sponsored by agencies or organizations outside of the VIDC.
As a service to Virginia’s criminal defense bar, the VIDC also provides training opportunities for members of the private bar. The Commission co-sponsors with the University of Richmond’s T.C. Williams School of Law an annual Juvenile Law and Education Conference. Commission staff also assist the Criminal Law Section of the Virginia Bar Association with the planning of Virginia’s annual Capital Defense Workshop. The Chief Justice of the Supreme court of Virginia also offers at no cost advanced trial skills training for Virginia’s court appointed counsel. Finally, individual public defender offices sponsor training programs for office staff and members of local bar associations.
Registration Form (VIDC-Sponsored Trainings)
Please download and complete the registration form below for any of the VIDC-sponsored courses.
VIDC Certification Trainings
The certification training programs for 2013 are provided below.
2013 Certification Training Schedule
*** MAY 31, 2013 JUVENILE CERTIFICATION TRAINING IN RICHMOND IS FULL ***
For an outline of certification requirements, please click on link below.
Lists of MCLE Approved Continuing Legal Education Programs certified by the Virginia Indigent Defense Commission for Maintaining Indigent Defense Certification, per Virginia Code §19.2163.03 (D) are available for downloading in PDF format.
2011-2012 Course Reference Guide
To request consideration for approval of a Criminal Law CLE from the VIDC for maintaining indigent defense certification, you may use our online Attorney Certification System (ACeS) or download the attached Adobe file, print, and complete as appropriate.
Other Training Programs
Juvenile Law and Education Conference
The 18th Annual Robert E. Shepherd, Jr. Juvenile Law and Education Conference is to be held on May 17, 2013 at the University of Richmond School of Law. For more details, click here. To register, click here. The cost is $75.00 for early bird registration, increasing to $90.00 for registrants after April 17.
*** REGISTRATION IS FULL ***
DVD Requests
To request a copy of a DVD for viewing, please fill out the DVD Request form and return it to the VIDC attention Lori Hoover.
For further information, please contact:
Human Resources and Training Director: Amy L. Williams
Training Administrator: Lori Hoover
Attorney Certification Verification: Karen Kelley
Standards of Practice Enforcement: Jae K. Davenport