Best Practices in Navigating the Criminal Legal System With Clients With Mental

This session focuses on best legal practices, specifically trauma-informed advocacy for treatment-focused outcomes, with an emphasis on disrupting stigma and ensuring the health and safety of justice-involved individuals in both criminal and family law settings. The program equips attorneys with practical tools and strategies to more effectively represent clients with mental health challenges across a range of legal contexts.

 By the end of this CLE, participants will be able to:

• Communicate effectively and empathetically with clients with mental health challenges using non-stigmatizing, trauma-informed approaches 
• Identify and apply best practices to safeguard the health and safety of incarcerated clients 
• Navigate both the criminal legal system and family court on behalf of clients with mental health needs, with a focus on treatment court dispositions 
• Understand current innovations and emerging practices designed to support clients with mental health challenges throughout the legal process

Speakers:

Katherine LeGeros Bajuk, Esq. | New York County Defender Services | New York, New York 

Jeffrey Berman, Esq. | Legal Aid Society | New York, New York

Aubrey Rose, Esq. | Family Defense Practice, Brooklyn Defender Services | Brooklyn, New York