A IS FOR ATTORNEY | 9:30am - 5:30pm | 8 CLE Skill Hours | $320 CDAM Member/$400 Non-Member

Experience CDAM’s acclaimed new lawyer session. Learn what a new lawyer needs to know to begin practicing criminal defense: interviewing a client, setting up a file, nuts and bolts of criminal court procedures,  Limited to 21 students. 

EVIDENCE BOOT CAMP: Drugs, Guns, and Objections  | 9:30am - 5:30pm | 8 CLE Skill Hours | $320 CDAM Member/$400 Non-Member

CDAM’s Evidence Boot Camp F, ideal for lawyers with five or more years’ experience. These all-day, small group, hands-on, immersion trainings develop fast thinking skills, critical to introducing evidence in court. Limited to sixteen, paired into groups of two, attorneys work on fact patterns that focus on Rules of Evidence. It’s been said that if you know the Rules of Evidence, you can Rule the Courtroom. It’s true, and by attending an EBC, you will position yourself to Master the Courtroom.

JURY SELECTION  | 9:30am - 5:30pm | 8 CLE Skill Hours | $320 CDAM Member/$400 Non-Member

.Jury selection is essential to trial preparation and courtroom strategy. In this small-group, hands-on training, participants will review key case law, examine types of juror challenges, develop voir dire questions from sample case materials, and practice questioning a panel of jurors while receiving direct feedback from faculty and students.

Register for Jury Selection

TRILOGY, TRIADS, and TRIUMPH  |  11:00am - 3:00pm | 4 CLE Skill Hours | $160 CDAM Member/$200 Non-Member

Legal trilogies, or the "power of three," work! Presenting three points is persuasive, memorable, and impactful. Trilogies create a beginning, middle, and end to provide a balanced narrative that supports complex, comprehensive, and cohesive arguments whether it be opening, cross, or closing. In this hands-on, small group training, attorneys will master the art of using trilogies to create an impactful courtroom presence using their own case. 

Register for Trilogy, Triads, and  Triumph

YOUR CASE ISSUES | 4pm - 6pm | No CLE Hours Issued | Just Show Up!

Stumped on a strategy? Have questions on a case? This is your opportunity to get feedback and assistance from an experienced CDAM trial attorney. Your Case Issues on Thursday, Nov 5, is open to everyone and is free. No reservation needed -- just show up. Check in at the registration desk and CDAM staff will direct you to the meeting room.

CDAM BOARD MEETING | 6:15pm | All CDAM members are welcome to attend.

Those interested in running for CDAM’s Board of Directors must attend a board meeting within the past year.

LODGE PARTY | 7:30pm

At Shanty Creek Lakeview Restaurant. Open to All Conference Registrants. Complimentary Hors D'oeuvres; Cash Bar.

Welcome and opening remarks — CDAM President Rhonda Ives

KEYNOTE — Kami Chavis

Police Technology: The Promise and Peril  

Professor Kami Chavis is the Vice Dean and R. Hugh and Nolie Haynes Professor of Law at William & Mary Law School, where she also directs the Center for Criminal Justice Policy and Reform. A nationally recognized expert on policing, criminal procedure, and criminal justice reform, she previously served as a federal prosecutor in Washington, D.C., and as Vice Provost at Wake Forest University. Professor Chavis’s legal research and scholarship focuses on police accountability, law enforcement technology, racial profiling, and prosecutorial ethics. She is a frequent commentator, speaker, and advisor on contemporary criminal justice issues. Her work has informed policymakers, practitioners, and scholars across the country.

This session will focus on ways in which the Michigan Constitution varies from the United States Constitution and how to use those differences to your client’s advantage. Participants will learn about recent decisions adopting or suggesting arguments for greater protections for the accused under Michigan’s Constitution, and how to most effectively litigate these issues.

Take‑aways:

• Knowledge of decisions adopting or suggesting arguments for greater protections under Michigan’s Constitution

• Understanding of the legal standard Michigan’s courts apply when considering arguments to expand rights using Michigan’s Constitution

• The importance of being creative and persistent when litigating these law reform issues

• Tips for handling adverse controlling authorities

• The necessity of making these law reform arguments on state and federal grounds

12:00pm-1:00pm LUNCH

Group Lunch Buffet (two locations: Bellaire Ballroom or Lakeside Restaurant)

or

Lunch on Your Own (entails leaving the hotel)

1:00pm-2:10pm — TRACK 1: 4 Breakout Session Options (select one) 

Option 1:  Aggressive Litigation: Becoming the Disruptor — Ellen Michaels

Attorney Ellen Michaels will explore how aggressive, strategic litigation can transform the course of a criminal case. Participants will learn how to create avenues of disruption in the prosecution's case and how to use proactive litigation strategies to seize control of the narrative. Drawing on real courtroom experiences, Ellen will discuss how to identify key pressure points, challenge flawed evidence and assumptions. Attendees will leave with practical strategies for disrupting the prosecution's momentum, shifting leverage, and litigating with purpose, courage, and precision when the stakes are highest.

Take‑aways:

• Identifying the disruption
• How to disrupt

Option 2: A Second Brain:  Building AI for Your Practice — Michael Naughton

This presentation intends to more fully explore the practical uses of artificial intelligence. Yes, there are ethical concerns about AI. This presentation will not explore those concerns. When used properly, AI can deeply augment a legal practice. This presentation will give real‑time, real‑world examples of how to use artificial intelligence beyond merely context chatting. This presentation will display Claude Code, Google Antigravity, ChatGPT Codex, and local models. It will show how AI is used to brainstorm, build case strategies, identify inconsistencies in statements, role‑play as witnesses for cross‑examination questioning, and recreate scenes and objects in three dimensions. Although this presentation assumes some knowledge of how to use AI, participants do not need to have used AI to understand the concepts.

Take‑aways:

• How to use the command line to extract more capability and control from AI
• How to use AI to build limited‑purpose apps that assist your practice
• How to use AI to design more impactful presentations
• How to use AI to find inconsistent statements

This interactive session will help participants develop advanced active listening techniques to enhance communication, witness preparation, and courtroom strategy. Participants will learn communication methods that improve client interviews, witness examinations, and negotiation outcomes. They will move beyond simple information gathering to uncover emotional factors and non‑verbal cues that strengthen case preparation. Through practical exercises, attendees will learn to minimize cognitive bias, foster deeper trust, and extract more precise information, ultimately improving their defense strategies. Participants will also learn how precise listening can reveal exculpatory details, establish the trust necessary for effective representation, and neutralize adversarial positioning.

Take‑aways:

• Establishing rapport and trust
• Decoding non‑verbal cues
• Uncovering hidden details
• Neutralizing adversarial positioning

Option 4: The Odd World of Natural Resource Law — Brian Fish

Fur, Fins, Feathers, boats, ATVs, and Snowmobiles.  An introduction to the history and mystery of Michigan’s Department of Natural Resources, the enabling Constitutional Provisions, statutes, administrative rules, Director’s orders, and Commission Orders.

Take aways:

• An understanding of the history and rulemaking of the Department.
• The logic of rule changes that occur every year.
  
• Treaty rules that affect Natural Resources.
  

• Funding sources.

•  Michigan DNR is the lead agency for Coast Guard grants, rules, inspections, & enforcement.

2:10-2:25pm Break — Transition to your next session and visit our vendors along the way!

2:25-3:35pm — TRACK 2: 4 Breakout Session Options (select one)

Option 1: Perspective from the Bench: Sentencing Advocacy that Benefits your Client  —Honorable James Maceroni

Considerations and expectations of the Court in preparation and conducting a sentencing hearing.  Sentencing alternatives, the Swift and Sure speciality court and the Sobriety treatment court.

Take-aways:

• Newer attorneys will come away with a practical understanding of what they are expected to do in preparation for a sentencing hearing as well as conducting the hearing.
• What  judges may look for within a PSI to give insight on a court's perspective, different types, and practical advice.
• A reaffirmation of the importance of the sentencing phase of a criminal representation.  

Option 2: DALE Scoring —John Stecco 

Participants will leave with a clear understanding of when delayed sentences or 4A resolutions help (or hurt), how to negotiate structured compliance plans, and how to balance trial posture with mitigation to achieve the best outcome.

1.      Participants will leave with a clear understanding of when delayed sentences or 4A resolutions help (or hurt), how to negotiate structured compliance plans, and how to balance trial posture with mitigation to achieve the best outcome.

Take‑aways:

• Attendees will understand how DALE scoring drives bond decisions, no contact orders, and pretrial restrictions, and they will learn concrete ways to attack the score’s accuracy, transparency, and reliability to reduce unnecessary restraints on clients

• Participants will learn how to challenge DALE‑driven defaults, force individualized bond analysis, expose unsupported prosecutor claims, and build a record for later modification.

• Attendees will learn how to challenge material witness warrants and MCL 768.27c police testimony workarounds, forcing prosecutors to justify their use and preventing unreliable statements from becoming the backbone of the case.

Option 3:  Preliminary Examination Playbook: Stopping the Case before it Starts  — Michael T. Beer 

This session will focus on the preparation, skills, techniques, and legal arguments necessary to achieve the often-elusive dismissal of charges at the preliminary examination stage in district court.

Take‑aways:

•  Participants will learn effective strategies for challenging and undermining the prosecution’s evidence, with an emphasis on thorough witness cross-examination, identification issues, and developing a record that fails to establish probable cause. 
  
• The session will also address how to preserve and build arguments for success in circuit court through a Motion to Quash.

Option 4: The MIDC Era: Making the Case for Eliminating Court - Ordered Attorney Fee Reimbursements  — Marla McCowan

This session will explore the history and practice of imposing a requirement to reimburse for the cost of appointed counsel, and explain why the practice is no longer necessary now that the MIDC Act covers the cost of representation for people who are poor and charged with crimes. 

Take‑aways:

• Understand the history, case law, and background of court-ordered attorney fee reimbursements. 
• Understand the MIDC Act, local share dollars, and the funding obligation by the State for indigent defense. 
• Provide practical tips and insights about how the money collected from indigent defendants is being used and reported (or not) by local system administrators. 
• Provide information about objections for defense counsel to make regarding this practice and update about pending litigation on the topic in the Michigan Supreme Court.  

Option 1: Attacking the Preliminary Examination: Thinking Beyond the Bindover  — Alan Crawford

At this session you will learn how to get the most out of the Preliminary Examination. You will be provided with the tools for success that go beyond the District Court Judge’s ruling. This session will be about implementing strategy through proper preparation to ensure future success. There will be an emphasis on building your cross-examination to set up your motion practice, as well as being used as a tool for discovery, and plea negotiations.  

Option 2: Sixth Circuit Updates and Emerging Issues in Federal Law — Benton Martin and Matt Monahan

In addition to an update on recent Sixth Circuit cases, Benton Martin, Appellate Chief at the Federal Community Defender, and Matt Monahan, will discuss emerging issues to look out for and preserve in federal cases.

Take-aways:

• Statutory, constitutional, and evidentiary issues.
  
• Developments in Armed Career Criminal Cases.
  
• Recent changes to the Sentencing Guidelines
  

Option 3: From Prosecution to Restoration: A Demonstration of Restorative Justice for Criminal Cases   — Jenna Ribbons

Experience the transformative power of restorative justice through an interactive role play that brings the process to life. Participants will witness how meaningful dialogue, accountability, empathy, and collaborative problem-solving can address the harm caused by crime. By stepping into the perspectives of those most affected, this demonstration highlights how restorative justice can promote healing, repair relationships, give voice to victims, and support offender accountability in ways that traditional justice processes often cannot. Discover how restoration, rather than punishment alone, can create pathways toward healing, understanding, and lasting positive change.

Take-aways:

• Accountability Is More Than Punishment: Participants will see how offenders can take meaningful responsibility for their actions by understanding the impact of the harm and actively participating in making things right.
• Victims Gain a Voice in the Process: The role play demonstrates how restorative justice creates opportunities for victims to express the effects of the harm, ask questions, and identify what they need to move forward.
• Healing Can Occur Alongside Justice: Participants will explore how restorative processes can address emotional, relational, and community harms while still promoting accountability and public safety.
• Dialogue Builds Understanding and Empathy: By hearing different perspectives, participants will observe how respectful communication can reduce conflict, foster empathy, and create opportunities for meaningful resolution.
• Restorative Justice Can Complement the Criminal Justice System: Participants will gain insight into how restorative practices can be incorporated at various stages of a criminal case to support more holistic and effective outcomes for all stakeholders.

Option 4: Charges: When Symptoms Become Disruptions and Defenses Reimagined — Torey Davenport and Ashley Nabors

This presentation examines how rapid mental health and social determinants of health screening can strengthen defense advocacy by providing attorneys with actionable information early in representation. Through a holistic defense pilot program screening over 1,000 clients, attorneys used symptom severity and vulnerability data to support bond advocacy, charging negotiations, treatment-focused resolutions, sentencing mitigation, and improved attorney-client communication. Presenters will discuss how behavioral health and instability are often misinterpreted as “noncompliance” or defiance, and how early screening can help contextualize client behavior, strengthen mitigation narratives, and improve holistic, client-centered representation within defender offices.

Take-aways: 

• An overview of our pilot program
• Practical applications for utilizing mental health screenings to advocate at various stages of a criminal case.
  
• Importance of involving mitigation specialists early in the case to improve client-centered representation and case outcomes.

Option 5:  Rest & Relaxation: Sound, Movement, Mindfulness Techniques — Jordan Zuppke and Marina Chupac

The practice of law can be demanding, placing immense strain on both mind and body. The high stakes and constant pressures of the profession often leave even the most resilient attorneys running on empty.

8:00-10:00pm

CONFERENCE CELEBRATION | Cocktail Party by Nationwide Interlock. Beer/Wine and Appetizers, and a DJ.  All are welcome! NO outside food or beverages allowed. 

Michigan Law Updates  — Jessica Zimbelman

Jessica will discuss the decisions of the Michigan Supreme Court from the 2025-26 term and published opinions from the Court of Appeals.

MIDC, SADO, MAACS Stakeholder Updates

Stephanie Farkas

SADO/MAACS Roster Support and Performance Manager

Michigan Sentencing Commission Update — John Cooper

The Chief of Staff of the Michigan Sentencing Commission will brief attendees on the Commission’s operations, policy priorities, research findings, and ongoing projects, as well as ways to contribute to the Commission’s work.

Take-aways:

• Sentencing Commissions are an essential part of a sentencing guidelines system.  They conduct ongoing research and oversight to evaluate whether sentencing guidelines are meeting their goals and make policy recommendations to improve outcomes.
  
• Michigan has not had an active Sentencing Commission since 1997, so the current guidelines have never been evaluated by a Commission.
  
• The system has also changed significantly since 1998 – the number of felony offenses has nearly doubled, the Guidelines were ruled advisory, etc.
  
• The Sentencing Commission is doing research on sentencing outcomes since 1998, and is finding significant issues with guidelines compliance, and with consistency and proportionality of sentencing.
  
• CDAM has a representative on the Commission, Anne Yantus, and the Commission welcomes feedback, suggestions, and insight from the defense bar.
  

Michigan Sentencing Guidelines — Anne Yantus

Update your knowledge of recent cases as well as statutory and court rule changes related to felony sentencing and the Michigan Sentencing Guidelines.

Shanty Creek Resort is our host hotel.

There are three types of lodging available: Lakeview Hotel in Summit Village (connected to conference center), condominiums, and Creekside Hotel rooms (a five minute drive from the conference center). 

CDAM group rates are good through October 5, 2026 or earlier if CDAM's block of rooms are sold out.

Rates start at $102++ USD per night (pending availability - so book soon!).

THE HOTEL BOOKING LINK IS LOCATED IN CDAM's CONFERENCE EMAIL AUTOMATICALLY SENT TO YOU ONCE CONFERENCE REGISTRATION IS SUCCESSFULLY COMPLETED.