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The Legal Aid Society is proud to offer members of the Justice Network access to some of The Legal Aid Society’s best online and live educational courses and trainings. This library of pre-recorded course offerings will be accessible to you year-round through our online portal.
Our course offerings cover a wide array of topics and are taught by Legal Aid experts and attorneys from all three of our practice areas—Criminal Defense, Juvenile Rights, and Civil.
Whether you are involved in the legal profession or not, these courses will provide you with an opportunity to learn about different legal and social justice issues. The trainings are all eligible for New York Continuing Legal Education (CLE credit) and are open to new and experienced attorneys.
The Legal Aid Society’s DNA Unit explains how a forensic laboratory tests items for DNA and shows how DNA evidence is interpreted by analysts using a commercially available software program called STRMIX. You will see the complexities of interpreting samples that have low amounts of DNA as well as those that have multiple people’s DNA in them. After you watch this CLE, you will understand why DNA testing results are nuanced and nothing like what you see on TV! Just like any other evidence at trial, DNA evidence is not infallible; it is subject to human judgment and interpretation as well.
1 hour 1 Professional Practice CLE Credit Take the Course
Legal Aid’s DNA Unit will give you a brief primer on the firearms and toolmarks comparisons field. Next, we explain the possible conclusions that a firearms examiner can make in a toolmarks comparison. The DNA Unit also discusses the basics of fingerprint comparisons and how an examiner makes comparisons between a crime-scene print and a print from a known individual. In each discipline, the unit discusses a few significant scientific reports and court decisions addressing the scope of an examiner’s conclusions at trial.
1 Hour 1 Professional Practice CLE Credit Take the Course
The Legal Aid Society’s Criminal Defense Practice Training Director provides a comprehensive review of subpoena power in a criminal case. From the original supreme court case of U.S. v. Burr all the way to the impact of the discovery reforms in 2020, the program takes the viewer through the “what,” “when,” “where,” “why” and “how” of subpoenas in New York State criminal practice. Also discussed are what happens when a private business or government agency is subpoenaed and wishes to not disclose the requested material (i.e. motions to quash) as well as how to handle subpoena power abuse by district attorneys.
This course, taught by our Criminal Defense Practice lead attorneys and trainers, tackles one of the most onerous parts of being a lawyer: making statutes understandable. Using a particularly tricky part of the Vehicle and Traffic Law, the program takes the viewer through a statutory construction exercise that renders them not only coherent but useful to the litigator. While focusing primarily on the criminal procedure law, these techniques are useful regardless of the area of practice. The course covers: de-mystifying the rules of statutory construction; finding new ways to make statutory arguments; and comparing statute Conditions vs. Exceptions vs. Lists.
You will hear from Legal Aid Society experts from our LGBTQ+ Law and Policy Unit, Prisoners’ Rights Project, and Rikers Re-Entry Program. The course covers: Why are trans+ individuals especially at risk for engagement with criminal law system? What issues and threats does the TGNCNBI community face when incarcerated? Why is New York, a state that prides itself on standing with the LGBTQ+ community, failing the trans+ community? What legal protections do trans+ people have that can be leveraged? What changes are needed? How can re-entry programs support the trans+ community?
1 Hour 1 DEI CLE Credit Take the Course
This training, produced by Legal Aid’s Family Law and Domestic Violence Practice, covers Family and Criminal Court Orders of Protection and how they can impact one’s housing rights. This training will help Housing advocates understand the distinctions between stay-away and limited orders. Trainers also discuss jurisdiction, arraignments in Criminal Court, modifications and conflict checks.
2 Hours 2 Professional Practice CLE Credits Take the Course
Presented by The Legal Aid Society’s LGBTQ+ Law and Policy Unit, the SOGIE (Sexual Orientation, Gender Identity, and Expression), this training reviews how to create affirming work environments for LGBTQ+ colleagues and clients. Topics covered include why an affirming environment matters, use of affirming language and terminology, obligations under NYC and NYS Human Rights Law, affirming practice checklist, and current issues impacting the LGBTQ+ community.
1.5 Hours 1 DEI CLE Credit .5 Law Practice Management CLE Credit Take the Course
Offered by The Legal Aid Society’s Homeless Rights Project and Civil Law Reform and Strategic Litigation teams, this briefing examines the key issues surrounding NYC’s housing and homelessness crises, and why the migrant and affordability crises are bringing our system to the brink. It reviews important legal developments regarding how mental health and youth populations are impacted by homelessness. Our experts explore why homelessness is rising, and how NYC’s lack of affordable housing and eviction protections impact the system. The briefing covers the stalled shelter-to-public housing pipeline—and how legal and policy legal reforms like “Good Cause eviction protections” and housing voucher programs are needed in New York State to safeguard homes and move families out of shelters.
This training, offered by Legal Aid’s Education Advocacy and Education Law Projects examines the school to prison pipeline and explores best practices for attorneys, social workers, and education advocates to work in a holistic model to disrupt the school to prison pipeline. Participants will gain an understanding of how the school to prison pipeline works to disproportionally affect certain vulnerable populations including students of color, students with disabilities, students living in poverty and LGBTQ youth. The briefing discusses best practices for using the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act to ensure that children with disabilities are not illegally excluded from school, to prevent children from entering the school to prison pipeline and shows how an integrated approach to advocacy can help attorneys obtain information that may help secure the best possible outcome when a youth does come in contact with the legal system. Additionally, viewers learn about recent New York state reports and proposed legislation, including the Solutions Not Suspensions Act (S1040), that will address the problem at a state level.
Part 1 of “I Know What You Did Last Summer” covers two common sources of location information in criminal cases: location points obtained from the extraction of a cell phone, and location data obtained through records kept by the phone company. The Legal Aid Society’s Digital Forensics Unit will explain the process of obtaining and analyzing this location data, and we will cover evidentiary issues related to introducing or contesting this type of evidence.
1 Hour 1 Professional Practice CLE Credit Coming Soon!
Part 2 “I Know What You Did Last Summer” builds on the previous discussion of cell phones and historical cell-site location information by exploring additional methods used to track individuals. Legal Aid’s Digital Forensics Unit will examine how law enforcement uses real-time tracking to locate and arrest clients. We will review the use of automatic license plate readers and other ways that our movements can be tracked in our cars. The presentation will also discuss how social media and cloud data can be exploited for location information. Finally, part 2 discusses the future of location information as it relates to wearable technology and the internet of things.
The Legal Aid Society’s Community Development Project offers advice on selecting the right legal structure, developing a board of directors, writing corporate bylaws, and additional services related to establishing, maintaining, and growing businesses owned by low-income individuals in our communities. The instructor delves into the purpose and function of by-laws for non-profits, tenant associations, and generally what an organization needs to qualify to be a nonprofit/a 501(c)(3).
Legal Aid Society experts discuss what the Legalization of Marijuana means for our city, the clients the Legal Aid Society serves, and the movement to decarcerate and reform the criminal justice system. The presenters of this course are the very individuals who fought for this pivotal reform. Take this course to learn more about what is in this new law and how it will end discriminatory marijuana enforcement in communities of color, expunge conviction records, and provide an opportunity for reinvestment in our communities and the futures of young people.
1 Hour 1 Professional Practice CLE Credit Comming Soon!
To take courses, Justice Network members need to register to access The Legal Aid Society Learning Management System (LMS) as an external learning partner. Click here to register.
For any registration issues, please email CCourtney@legal-aid.org.
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