Registration is now open for WDA’s 2018 Defender Conference: Moving Toward Justice on April 27 & 28, 2018. This year’s conference will take place once again at Sun Mountain in Winthrop, Washington. We encourage you to make your plans now to attend. Sun Mountain Lodge has limited capacity, however there are quite a few other options in the Winthrop area. And don’t forget–if you’d really like to stay at the lodge, try to get on the waiting list as a back up to your confirmed accommodations, as some rooms will open up closer to the conference. Click here for information about Sun Mountain Lodge.

This year’s conference will focus on obtaining the best outcomes  for your clients through  innovative pre-trial advocacy strategies.  Keynote speakers include: Sean Goode, the Executive Director of CHOOSE 180; Jorge Baron, the Executive Director of the Northwest Immigrant Rights Project; and Washington State Supreme Court Justice Sheryl Gordon-McCloud. The breakout sessions will allow for relevancy and cross over from one practice area to another and will cover skills development in some of the following areas: dependency, investigation, use of experts, pre-trial motions, pre-trial release issues and forensics. Washington State Office of Public Defense will also be on hand on Saturday to present their Juvenile Training Academy. We are very excited about this year’s programs and we hope you can join us. Click here for the program description and full schedule!