The 2025 Federal Criminal Practice Seminar is scheduled for Friday, August 22, 2025, and is presented by the Federal Public Defender Office for the Northern District of Ohio, in association with the Northern District of Ohio Chapter of the Federal Bar Association, and will be held at the Cleveland Metropolitan Bar Association’s Conference Center, located at 1375 E. 9th Street, 2nd Floor, Cleveland, OH 44114. This event will no longer be held via Zoom webinar. Video self-study will be available at a later date for the same registration fee as referenced below.
We are pleased to bring to you: Sara Peloquin of the Defender Services Training Division, with Bridget Kennedy, Assistant Federal Public Defender for the Southern District of Ohio, presenting on the hot-button topic of 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 will bring to you their presentation 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 to present the annual Supreme Court review; Shelley Fite of the National Resource Counsel for the Federal Public Defender Community Defenders will present 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, will present 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 CLE Commission for 6.5 hours of general CLE. The program is scheduled to run from 8:30 a.m. through 5:00 p.m.
The fee to attend this event is $150.00. All current CJA Panel members and County Public Defenders may attend for a reduced rate of $100.00. This event will be held at the Cleveland Metropolitan Bar Association, 1375 E. 9th Street, 2nd Floor, Cleveland, OH 44114. This event includes a continental breakfast and afternoon snack; however, lunch is included for CJA Panel members only.
CJA Panel members only will be treated to a luncheon at no additional cost, with a special presentation by Melody Brannon, Federal Defender in the District of Kansas who is the Chair of the Defender Services Advisory Group (DSAG), along with her former CJA Panel Representative, Melanie Moran, to discuss potential changes to the Federal Defender program and the management of the CJA.
Handout materials will be sent by e-mail after the program. CLE credit from the Ohio Supreme Court will be awarded after the program.
Everyone must register and pay for this event. The preferred payment method is by credit card via PayPal. To register, please visit the Northern District of Ohio Chapter of the Federal Bar Association website at www.fba-ndohio.org and click on “calendar.” To register using check or money order, please complete the attached registration form and mail it to the address listed on the form.
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.
Please click here for the invite, agenda and mail in registration form.