Welcome to Basic Lawyer Training!

We have created the Basic Lawyer Training Program (a modification of the very successful Core Skills Program) to provide a regionally based, small group training that incorporates both lecture and practice components. All practice will be done using work the lawyer has prepared on a misdemeanor cases out of the lawyer’s own case load.

At present, there are 7 Basic Lawyer Training Groups. These groups bring together new hires from two or more Colorado State Public Defender offices. In a system of roughly 800 people, this approach provides an opportunity for lawyers from different offices to get to know one another.

These new hires will meet once a month for five months. Each monthly session covers a different practice area integral to providing the most effective assistance of counsel possible for our clients. A list of these sessions appears below.

Creating the basic lawyer training calendar and implementing it have involved a significant commitment from the office heads, and experienced lawyers in various offices recruiting, coordinating, and teaching. I am very grateful for all of the dedication to training our new hires that our experienced lawyers have shown during this process.

We hope that this approach will produce great training results for our new hires while helping maintain the sense of unity and community that has always been a hallmark of being a Colorado deputy state Public Defender.