The Federal Public Defender Office presents, in association with the Federal Bar Association Northern District of Ohio Chapter, the 2025 Federal Criminal Practice Seminar as a self-study course. This course includes the presentations of: Sara Peloquin of the Defender Services Training Division, with Bridget Kennedy, Assistant Federal Public Defender for the Southern District of Ohio, presenting on defending federal criminal immigration cases; Sean Broderick, Administrator of the National Litigation Support Team, with John Ellis, Jr., Coordinating Discovery Attorney with the National Litigation Support Team, both of the Defender Services Training Division, who presented on using artificial intelligence (AI) in federal criminal defense cases; Daniel S. Harawa, Professor of Law and Director of the Federal Appellate Clinic at New York University School of Law presents the annual Supreme Court review; Shelley Fite of the National Resource Counsel for the Federal Public Defender Community Defenders presented on the upcoming amendments to the United States Sentencing Guidelines; and finally, Lori Riga, Michael Ledenko and Abigail Akrong, Research and Writing Attorneys with the Federal Public Defender for the Northern District of Ohio presented the annual Sixth Circuit update.
This program has been approved by the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Ohio to satisfy the requirements of Local Rule 57.5(o) and the Criminal Justice Act Plan for CLE training in federal criminal law and procedure. Application has been made to the Ohio Supreme Court for 6.5 hours of general CLE for this self-study course.
The registration fee for this course is $150.00, however, all current CJA Panel members and County Public Defenders may attend for a reduced rate of $100.00. To register, please visit the Federal Bar Association Northern District of Ohio Chapter website at www.fba-ndohio.org and click on the “calendar” and search for the Federal Criminal Practice Seminar Video Self-Study Course. To register by check or money order, please complete the attached registration form and mail it to the address listed on the form.
Once registration is received, an e-mail will be sent to you which will include the video links to the YouTube videos, the course, agenda, the course examination and the evaluation form. The evaluation and exam (80% passing grade required for CLE credit) must be returned to christine_sason@fd.org, before CLE credit will be awarded. The deadline to register for this event is December 26, 2025, and the deadline to receive CLE credit is December 31, 2025. Handout materials will be sent by e-mail after the program, along with a certificate of completion, once the exam and evaluation have been received and reviewed.
If you have any questions, please contact the program coordinators, Christine Sason at 216-861-3689, or by e-mail at Christine_Sason@fd.org, or Marcia Burston at 216-861-3596, or by e-mail at Marcia_Burston@fd.org.