Mitigation

Conducting exhaustive investigation of a client’s records, psycho-social history, family dynamics, treatment needs, character, and other factors important to providing a full presentation of an accused circumstances in support of an acceptable disposition, sympathetic pre-trial services recommendation and favorable sentence.

Identifying, locating, and interviewing family, friends, teachers, employers, professional associates, treatment providers, and other contacts to personalize a client’s life experiences through those who have shared a part of their lives.

Creating a report that details a client’s circumstances resulting in their involvement with the criminal justice system and supports a favorable resolution of their case. An effective mitigation package is an important resource when used by the defense team for trial preparation, in disposition negotiations and sentencing submissions. Useful when provided to expert witnesses, treatment providers, probation officers, and others tasked with advocating on behalf of the accused.

Resource Assistance

Whether in custody or released pending resolution, resource assistance can help when presenting a plan to those involved in resolving your client’s case. Incarceration is expensive but convincing decision-makers that the client is obtaining the help needed to avoid further anti-social behavior is a required part of any presentation. It is also of great help to the client’s well-being. Areas to explore include:

Mental Health Treatment

Substance Abuse Programs

Education/Vocational Training

Disability Support

LGBTQ Resources

Employment Opportunities

Public Assistance Availability

Crisis Intervention/Risk Assessment

Risk assessment and immediate response to mental, emotional, physical, and behavioral distress. Short term intensive treatment followed by a longer treatment protocol should be explored. Friendly, consistent, and continuous support helps ensure successful compliance.

Record Review

Obtain, review, and summarize records to help defense strategy, determine appropriate support resources and document advocacy materials. A defense team approach allows for the assessment of legal, medical, psychological, educational, and institutional documents highlighting relevant information for further attorney consideration.

Release Planning

In those instances where a client is in custody, a sentence to incarceration likely or a client is looking to be paroled, release planning can positively affect an outcome. Continuing treatment, adequate housing, and finding employment are core requirements. Promoting a network of support and positive influences can encourage probation, lower sentences, or early release alternatives.

Client Support

Many clients are surrounded by those who are negative influences, co-dependent or enabling bad behavior. Even those who mean well may not be the most effective in motivating a troubled client. Supportive counseling and consistent contact by someone other than those who are part of the client’s life can provide a relationship most conducive to successful outcomes. Monitoring behavior, enforcing schedules, providing introductions to programming personnel, answering uncomfortable questions not always presented to the attorney help the client help themselves.

Research

A client’s circumstances are a product of many factors that are now first being understood. An increasingly robust area of research is developing that help provide answers to why some people succeed and others suffer from mental illness, substance abuse and criminal behavior. Those making decisions regarding the punishment and future conditions of our clients are interested, or should be, in what factors brought them into the criminal justice system. A few of the areas that need to be part of any presentation are the most current research regarding:

Adoption

Juvenile Treatment/Development

Alternatives to Incarceration

Prenatal/Neonatal

Brain Development

PTSD

Cycle of Sexual Abuse

Restorative Justice

Domestic Violence

School to Prison Pipeline

Fight, Flight, Freeze

Substance Abuse

Foster Care

TBI

Trauma/Generational Trauma

Homelessness

Veterans