Passion to Practice: Empowering Lawyers in Civil Rights and Police Misconduct Litigation

NPAP & Justis Connection are hosting a two-day intensive training for attorneys and law students in Maryland, Virginia, and Washington, D.C. on the basics of litigating police and jail misconduct cases.

This seminar is open to all, but aims especially to provide community, support, encouragement, and guidance to attorneys from communities that are disproportionately targeted and impacted by police violence.

The training will be led by some of the nation's best leading attorneys handling police and jail misconduct cases in the United States today. Following the training, attendees will be provided with continued support services from NPAP, including additional training opportunities and continued advice from the country's top police misconduct litigators.

This workshop will be offered in-person only.

PLEASE NOTE: Registration for this event will close Sunday, June 2 at 11:59pm (EST) with no exceptions, to allow NPAP staff time to validate all registrants and ensure event security. Thank you for your understanding.

AGENDA

Wednesday, June 5

1. Actionable Conduct
   • Lauren Bonds, Keisha James, Eliana Machefsky
2. Investigating the Case
   • Nia Holston
3. Drafting the Complaint
   • Yaida Ford
4. Section 1983 Basics
   • Professor Teri Ravenell

Thursday, June 6

1. Lives in the Law Roundatable - Case Studies in Police Miscondct Law
   • Kobie Flowers, Ryan Downer, J. Wyndal Gordon, Dionna Lewis, Brittany Francis, S. Todd Yeary, Johnathan Smith
     • Moderator: Kisha Brown
2. Keynote
   • John Burris

A PDF of the full agenda can be found here.

ABOUT THE SPEAKERS

• John Burris - Partner, Burris Nisenbaum Curry & Lacy

• Lauren Bonds - Executive Director, National Police Accountability Project

• Keisha James - Staff Attorney, National Police Accountability Project

• Eliana Machefsky  - Legal Fellow, National Police Accountability Project

• Nia Holston - Staff Attorney, Abolitionist Law Center

• Yaida Ford - Principal and Managing Partner, Ford Law Pros

• Professor Teri Ravanell - Associate Dean for Faculty Research and Development, Professor of Law, Villanova University, Charles Widger School of Law

• Kobie Flowers - Partner, Brown, Goldstein, & Levy

• Ryan Downer - Washington Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights and Urban Affairs

• Brittany Francis - Deputy Director of Litigation, Civil Rights Corps

• J. Wyndal Gordon - The Law Office of J. Wyandal Gordon P.A.

• Dionna Maria Lewis - Managing Attorney, District Legal Group, PLLC

• S. Todd Yeary - Attorney, The Yeary Firm LLC

• Jonathan Smith - Vice President and Legal Director, Roderick & Solange MacArthur Justice Center

• Kisha A. Brown - Founder & CEO, Justis Connection

A NOTE ON TIME ZONES

Any time listed without a time zone is in Central Standard Time.

DATE, TIME, LOCATION

The event will be held at Soul Street (819 E Pratt St, Baltimore, MD 21202) at the following dates/times:

Wednesday, June 5:

• 9am - 5:00pm EST

Thursday, June 6:

• 9am - 1:00pm EST

ACCREDITATION

This event is currently pending CLE credit.

We will be applying for 6.0 CLE credit hours, with the State Bar of California. Most attendees should be able to self-report for CLE credit to their own state bars, and in instances where a state bar requires that the event sponsor report on behalf of attendees, NPAP is happy to assist.

Details for obtaining credit will be shared with all attendees once our application has been approved.

EVENT RECORDING

The event will be in-person in its entirety and will not be recorded.