National College for DUI Defense (NCDD)

NCDD members must attend at least one seminar every two (2) years that is sponsored or co-sponsored by the National College for DUI Defense (NCDD) or a state seminar approved by NCDD, Inc. NCDD sponsors or co-sponsors several seminars each year including:

• the annual three-day "DWI Means Defend With Ingenuity" CLE seminar held in Las Vegas, Nevada, which is co-sponsored by the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers (NACDL);

• a three-day seminar held each summer at Harvard Law School (the Summer Session);

• a seminar each spring in New Orleans, Louisiana, called the "Mastering Scientific Evidence" seminar (the Spring Session); and

• a winter seminar that is held at various locations across the United States (the Winter Session).

NCDD also sponsors several state seminars throughout the year and across the country that are co-sponsored by a state bar association or state criminal defense association.

The 2023 Winter Session is scheduled for January 12, 2023 - January 13, 2023, at the Andaz San Diego Hotel. in San Diego, CA. The scheduled presentations include:

• Opening: Facing Death. Higher Stakes, Bereaved Families, and Sleepless Nights.NCDD
  • Dean Andrew Mishlove
• The State’s Investigation, and What you Need to Do Right Now.
  • Hon. Catherine V. Evans
• Accident Reconstruction: Human Factors and Physics
  • Daniel R. Billington II, Accident Reconstructionist
• Voir Dire in the Death or Serious Injury Case
  • Virginia L. Landry
• Case Study: A Trial Story: Winning the Vehicular Murder Charge by Mitigation.
  • G. Cole Casey
• Case Study: A Trial Story: Winning the Vehicular Homicide Charge by Impeaching the State’s Reconstruction Engineer.
  • Dennis Melowski
• Sentencing: The Worst has Happened. The Scales Cannot be Balanced. We Need a Story of Context and Redemption.
  • Dean Andrew Mishlove
• Issues in Forensic Pathology
  • John Hunsucker
• Case Study: A Case of Chirality: Chemistry Defense in a DUI Meth Homicide
  • Amanda K. Riek & David Bolles
• Pretrial Litigation in the Serious Case: Motions in Limine, Daubert, Suppression, Etc.
  • Lara J. Gressley
• Restitution: How to Use Available Insurance and Avoid the Double Dip.
  • Lynn Gorelick
• Case Study: A Trial Story: From the Lab to the Verdict. Winning by Impeaching the Chemist
  • Donald J. Ramsell
• The Kyle Rittenhouse Case. Winning the High-Profile Homicide: “I Don’t Represent Causes, I Represent Clients!”
  • Mark Richards

The cost to attend the seminar in person depends on the membership level including: 

• $575 - NCDD Member
• $750 - Non-Member
• $250 - Individual Public Defender
• $150 - Individual Public Defenders (from the same office) per person

The cost to attend the seminar through live streaming also depends on the membership level including: 

• $525 - NCDD Member
• $700 - Non-Member
• $500 - Public Defender Agency

Other upcoming seminars for 2023 include:

• 2023 Mastering Scientific Evidence on March 30, 2023 - March 31, 2023, at the Royal Sonesta on Bourbon Street in New Orleans, LA; and
• Serious Science: Advanced Course in Blood Alcohol Analysis & Trial Advocacy from June 09, 2023 - June 14, 2023, in Arlington, TX.

Applicants to be a general member in NCDD must be eligible to practice law in the United States, Canada or Australia, demonstrate substantial current involvement in the practice area of DUI defense and other related crimes, and provide two reference letters showing competency in DUI defense and good character.

Attorneys who serve in any capacity, part-time or full-time, with a law enforcement agency or prosecutor's office, are not eligible to join NCDD.

The primary benefits of joining NCDD include:

• CLE seminars sponsored by NCDD;

• Access to advanced training in Standardized Field Sobriety Training, Breath Alcohol Defenses, Blood Alcohol Defenses, Gas Chromatography for Alcohol Tests, and Mass Spectrometry for Drug Tests;

• Access to the "DUI Appeal of the Day" discussion forum;

• A subscription to the quarterly NCDD Journal;

• Access to email discussion groups where members can ask questions and share information with other members and carefully selected experts;

• The opportunity to earn a designation as "Board Certified" from the NCDD if the applicant meets certain requirements of trial experience and passes a written and oral examination;

• A listing in the "Find an Attorney" directory on the NCDD website; and

• Access to an extensive online library of scientific and legal articles related to DUI / DWI litigation.

Trial Advocacy Award: This award goes to the NCDD member who has most personified the mission of the National College through an aggressive, creative and ethical trial practice dedicated to defending those accused of impaired driving.  This individual has set themselves apart in their local community as a premier DUI defense trial attorney and has litigated a number of DUI-related cases to verdict.  This individual is recognized, in his/her local legal community, as a tenacious yet ethical litigator.

NCDD Leadership Award: This award goes to the NCDD member who has most personified the mission of the National College through their ability and willingness to lead in their local legal community or their local community at large.  This individual demonstrates their leadership skills by heading and/or leading a legal organization, charitable organization, community group, educational organization or other, who’s primary purpose is to better the life of others. This individual is well-known in their local community for their work in these areas.

NCDD Public Defender of the Year Award:  This award goes to the NCDD Public Defender member who has most personified the mission of the National College through their relentless pursuit of justice on behalf of their clients, with an emphasis on impaired driving cases.  This public defender has demonstrated a thirst for knowledge that is only matched by their tenacity in court.  This Public Defender has set themselves apart in their local legal community as a tenacious, compassionate and ethical advocate for their clients.

Appellate Advocacy Award: This award goes to the NCDD member who has most personified the mission of the National College through a creative, thoughtful, intellectual and ethical appellate practice dedicated to preserving the rights of the accused, with an emphasis in driving related cases.  This individual has set themselves apart in the local legal community as a premier appellate attorney, whose knowledge of the law and ability to articulate it in writing and word, are matched by few others. This individual may have led and/or participated in a major appellate project which significantly preserved the rights of those accused of impaired driving in their state, via amicus or on the national level.