Available for Download: Trial Manual 6 with 2020 Supplement
The electronic versions of the 2020 Supplement to the Sixth Edition of the Trial Manual for the Defense of Criminal Cases (2016) and the Trial Manual 6 with the 2020 Supplement Incorporated are now available for download.
The 2020 Supplement, authored by Anthony G. Amsterdam and Randy Hertz, incorporates updates provided in the 2017, 2018 and 2019 Supplements. Request a free electronic copy of the complete Manual or the standalone 2020 Supplement today. A print version of the 2020 Supplement is forthcoming.
The Manual is designed as a how-to-do-it exposition for the general practitioner of the law and practice of criminal defense. It gives the lawyer who is relatively inexperienced in criminal proceedings a compact guide through the stages of a criminal case, from arrest and investigation to appeal. It identifies critical points in the proceedings, warns of rights to be asserted and interests to be protected at each stage, describes the practices and procedures necessary or useful for the assertion of those rights and the protections of those interests, and, in both narrative and checklist form, suggests steps to be taken or considered by defense counsel at the various stages.
From the authors:
The primary goal of the Manual has always been—and continues to be—to serve as a resource for criminal defense lawyers at the trial level. It covers the information a defense attorney has to know, and the strategic factors s/he should consider, at each of the stages of the criminal trial process. It is organized for easy access by practitioners who need ideas and information quickly in order to jump-start their work at any given stage.
A Brief History
In 1967, A Trial Manual for the Defense of Criminal Cases was published by the ALI-ABA Joint Committee on Continuing Legal Education. The product of the combined effort of the ALI-ABA Joint Committee, the American College of Trial Lawyers, and the National Legal Aid and Defendant Association, the Manual was designed for use in Course of Study to be conducted throughout the country and as a working document for lawyers involved in the defense of persons accused of crime.
Authored by Anthony G. Amsterdam, Bernard L. Segal, and Martin K. Miller, the Manual consisted of three parts. The first was an Outline of the Criminal Defense Process; the second was a treatise-like discussion of the substantive content of the Outline titled ‘Guidelines for Criminal Defense;’ the third was a Selected Bibliography of Criminal Procedure, keyed directly to the Outline.
The American Law Institute is proud to work with authors Amsterdam and Hertz on the continued publication of this widely relied upon work, and will continue to provide free access, including yearly updates, to attorneys in public defender offices and in non-profit legal services organizations that do criminal defense work.
