Stetson University and National Criminal Defense Bar Launch White Collar Criminal Defense College

TAMPA BAY, Fla., July 19, 2011 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Stetson University College of Law and the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers (NACDL) are launching the NACDL White Collar Criminal Defense College at Stetson, the first program of its kind. The first session of this groundbreaking training for criminal defense lawyers is slated for early 2012. Practitioners in the field of white collar criminal defense will gain key advocacy skills and learn substantive white collar law during this multi-day "boot camp" program for lawyers at Stetson University College of Law.  

Topics will likely include corporate investigations; representation of top management, middle management and other employees; grand jury investigation as it relates to corporate documents; the handling of parallel proceedings, such as agency investigations with the SEC or IRS; and sentencing issues unique to white collar defendants.

"The marriage of the leading advocacy law school in the country with the nation's leading criminal defense organization is a unique way to ensure that attorneys have the opportunity to enhance their white collar advocacy skills and also increase their knowledge of substantive white collar law," said Ellen S. Podgor, the Gary R. Trombley Family White Collar Crime Research Professor at Stetson Law, who will chair the White Collar Criminal Defense College.

"This partnership with Stetson is a natural extension of NACDL's educational programs for attorneys from all practice settings who are looking for top-notch legal training from the nation's preeminent criminal defense lawyers," explained NACDL Executive Director Norman L. Reimer.

Among the nation's top white collar practitioners serving on the advisory board of the NACDL White Collar Criminal Defense College at Stetson are NACDL's Chair of its CLE Institute William R. Gallagher of Arenstein & Gallagher; Shana-Tara Regon, director of White Collar Crime Policy for NACDL; and Larry Thompson, former U.S. Deputy Attorney General and Senior Vice President of Government Affairs, General Counsel and Secretary for PepsiCo. Other members of the advisory board and those teaching in the program will be announced soon.  

NACDL is the preeminent organization in the U.S. advancing the mission of the nation's criminal defense lawyers to ensure justice and due process for persons accused of crime or other misconduct. In recent years, NACDL's white collar initiatives have assisted in furthering justice in areas such as discovery and grand jury reform, attorney-client privilege, overcriminalization and sentencing.

Stetson Law is Florida's first law school and has produced outstanding lawyers, judges and other professionals since it was founded in 1900. Stetson strongly emphasizes skills training and professionalism as part of its curriculum. Since 1995, Stetson has continuously ranked among the top four programs in the nation for trial advocacy.

For more information about the White Collar Criminal Defense College, contact Professor Ellen Podgor at [email protected] or 727-562-7348.

Stetson University College of Law is Florida's first law school. It has educated lawyers for more than a century. The law school is located in the Gulfport/St. Petersburg area with a satellite campus in downtown Tampa. Stetson University's historic campus, founded in 1883 in DeLand, is home to the College of Arts & Sciences, School of Business Administration, and School of Music. Stetson also has a satellite center in Celebration that offers advanced degrees.

The National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers is the preeminent organization advancing the mission of the criminal defense bar to ensure justice and due process for persons accused of crime or wrongdoing. A professional bar association founded in 1958, NACDL's 10,000-plus direct members in 28 countries – and 90 state, provincial and local affiliate organizations totaling more than 40,000 attorneys – include private criminal defense lawyers, public defenders, military defense counsel, law professors and judges committed to preserving fairness and promoting a rational and humane criminal justice system.

SOURCE Stetson University College of Law