The MDefenders Public Defender Training Institute is an intensive immersion into the world of indigent defense. Taught by University of Michigan faculty who are current and/or former public defenders (aided by MDefenders alumni who currently work as public defenders), the Institute will inspire students to understand what calls people to do this kind of work; train them to be excellent, client-centered, zealous advocates for their clients; give them skills to avoid burnout and sustain themselves in a public defense career; introduce them to a community of like-minded students and future defender colleagues; and teach them how to raise the level of representation wherever they go and effectuate systematic and individualized change for their clients.
The Institute is a four-credit program that kicks off with a three-day intensive retreat at the law school in the fall. After the retreat, participants will meet each week for the remainder of the Institute to continue their training.
Enrollment in the Institute is limited to 2L & 3L students, but interested MDefenders members (including 1L members) who are not enrolled are still permitted to audit the Institute sessions room space permitting. Although they will not be called on and will not participate in the simulations, there is still much that they can learn from observing the sessions.
In the first half of the Institute, students learn about the role of the public defender, different kinds of public defender work, how public defenders differ from prosecutors and private defense attorneys, how to incorporate social science into their advocacy, how to address implicit and explicit racial bias in the system, and how to handle the challenges that public defenders face (including excessive caseloads, secondary trauma, and ethical issues). The Institute also trains students on effective pre-trial preparation including skills related to client interviewing, investigation, taking witness statements, obtaining discovery, storytelling and persuasion, preliminary hearings, and developing a theory of the case.
During the second half of the Institute, students learn about plea bargaining, evidence, motions practice, jury selection, and trial advocacy (openings, direct examinations, cross examinations, closings, and sentencing hearings).
2L and 3L students interested in enrolling in the Institute (or having access to the reading assignments and training materials), should email mdefenders@umich.edu.
1L, 2L, and 3L students who are interested in auditing the Institute's sessions (which means watching but not participating) may come to any events they would like to observe. If you are a current student who is interested in observing, please email mdefenders@umich.edu.
Below is the schedule of events for the 2025-2026 academic year:
Schedule of Events
Retreat Materials: Public Defense Fundamentals
DAY ONE - Saturday, August 30, 2025
8:30 a.m. - 10:00 a.m.
| The Role of the Public Defender
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10:00 a.m. - 10:15 a.m
| Break
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10:15 a.m. - 12:15 p.m.
| What Does it Mean to be Client-Centered and How to Reconcile that with the Rules of Professional Responsibility in Individual Cases?
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12:15 p.m. - 1:15 p.m.
| Lunch
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1:15 pm – 3:15 pm
| White Saviors, Implicit Bias, and the Importance of Addressing Race as a Public Defender
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3:15 pm – 3:30 pm
| Break
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3:30 pm – 3:45 pm
|
Discussion of How to Use Checklists to Improve Your Practice |
3:45 pm – 5:15 pm
| Client versus Cause Lawyering & Culture in Public Defender Offices: Finding the Right Office, Handling Volume, and How to Change Culture
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5:15 pm – 5:30 pm
| Break
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5:30 pm – 6:30 pm
| Panel on Why We Do This Kind of Work
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DAY TWO - Sunday, August 31, 2025
8:30 a.m. - 10:30 a.m.
| Client Interviewing
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10:30 a.m. - 10:45 a.m.
| Break
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10:45 a.m. - 12:00 p.m.
| How to be Client-Centered When the Client is Mentally Ill or Disabled
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12:00 p.m. - 1:00 p.m.
| Lunch
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1:00 p.m. - 4:00 p.m.
|
Bond Review Hearings
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4:00 p.m. - 4:15 p.m.
| Break
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4:15 pm – 6:15 pm
| Secondary Trauma, Moral Injury, and Self-Care
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|
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DAY THREE - Monday, September 1, 2025
8:30 am – 11:45 am
| Initial Appearances
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11:45 am – 12:45 pm
| Lunch
|
12:45 pm – 2:45 pm
| Storytelling and Persuasion
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2:45 pm - 3:00 pm
| Break
|
3:00 pm – 4:00 pm
| Storytelling and Persuasion Workshops (Part One)
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4:00 pm – 4:15 pm
| Break
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4:15 pm – 6:15 pm
| Storytelling and Persuasion Workshops (Part Two)
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6:15 pm
| Concluding Remarks
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Post-Retreat Sessions: Pre-Trial Advocacy
Incorporating Social Science into Criminal Defense & Investigations Introduction
Date: Friday, September 5th, 2025
Time: 9:30 a.m. - 11:30 a.m.
Investigations Simulation & Witness Statement Introduction
Date: Tuesday, September 9, 2025
Time: 9:30 a.m. - 11:30 a.m.
Witness Statements Simulation & Self Care Check-In
Date: Friday, September 12, 2025
Time: 9:30 a.m. - 11:30 a.m.
Preliminary Hearings Introduction & Self-Care: Third Thing
Date: Tuesday, September 16, 2025
Time: 9:30 a.m. - 11:30 a.m.
Preliminary Hearing Simulation & Skills/Growth Assessment
Date: Friday, September 19, 2025
Time: 9:30 a.m. - 11:30 a.m.
Discovery & Brady Introduction & Self Care: Boundaries & Transitions
Date: Friday, September 26, 2025
Time: 9:30 a.m. - 11:30 a.m.
Discovery & Brady Simulations
Date: Tuesday, September 30, 2025
Time: 9:30 a.m. - 11:30 a.m.
Introduction to Defense Theory and Theme & Self-Care: Sleep, Nutrition, and Exercise
Date: Friday, October 3, 2025
Time: 9:30 a.m. - 11:30 a.m.
Defense Theory & Theme Simulation
Date: Tuesday, October 7, 2025
Time: 9:30 a.m. - 11:30 a.m.
Motions/Objections Introduction & Simulation
Date: Friday, October 10, 2025
Time: 9:30 a.m. - 11:30 a.m.
Second Half of the Semester: Trial Advocacy
Mid-Year Check-In, Plea Negotiations Introduction & Having Difficult Conversations Exercise
Date: Wednesday, October 15, 2025
Time: 7:00 p.m. - 9:00 p.m.
Plea Negotiations Simulation & Introduction to Voir Dire
Date: Friday, October 17, 2025
Time: 9:30 a.m. - 11:30 a.m.
Voir Dire Simulation
Date: Tuesday, October 21, 2025
Time: 9:30 a.m. - 11:30 a.m.
Opening Statement Introduction & Organizing Your Caseload Conversation
Date: Friday, October 24, 2025
Time: 9:30 a.m. - 11:30 a.m.
Opening Statement Simulation & Self Care Check-In
Date: Tuesday, October 28, 2025
Time: 9:30 a.m. - 11:30 a.m.
Direct Examination Introduction & Self-Care: Gratitude
Date: Friday, October 31, 2025
Time: 9:30 a.m. - 11:30 a.m.
Direct Examination Simulation
Date: Friday, November 7, 2025
Time: 9:30 a.m. - 11:30 a.m.
Cross-Examination Introduction & Self-Care: Resilient Thinking
Date: Tuesday, November 11, 2025
Time: 9:30 a.m. - 11:30 a.m.
Cross-Examination Simulation
Date: Friday, November 14, 2025
Time: 9:30 a.m. - 11:30 a.m.
Closing Argument Introduction & Self-Care Conversation: Supervisors
Date: Tuesday, November 18, 2025
Time: 9:30 a.m. - 11:30 a.m.
Closing Argument Simulation; Introduction to Sentencing & Collateral Consequences; Self-Care Check-In
Date: Friday, November 21, 2025
Time: 9:30 a.m. - 11:30 a.m.
Sentencing Simulation
Date: Tuesday, November 25, 2025
Time: 9:30 a.m. - 11:30 a.m.
Reflections, Wellness & Moving Forward
Date: Tuesday, December 2, 2025
Time: 9:30 a.m. - 11:30 a.m.
