Highly Developed Mitigation Services

• We begin every case with a comprehensive intake interview to obtain biopsychosocial information that provides a foundational and contextual lens for the specific offense to be understood.

• The deep understanding of a person’s life and relevant circumstances surrounding their offense gleaned from our highly specialized biopsychosocial report supports the attorney in developing case strategy and using their limited time only on legal objectives. This report is typically 3 - 5 pages in length.

Personalized letters from those who know a client well can be invaluable in humanizing the client and advocating meaningfully on their behalf. In addition to interviewing a client’s family, friends, and/or others who know the client well, we guide each of these collateral sources through the process of writing sincere and compelling letters to the judge in support of the client. We work closely with all letter writers to help them uncover within themselves the stories they want to tell that best humanize our client.

A client’s genuine expression of regret for their actions and their reflection on the situation can be extremely moving. Arguably integral to the mitigation process, a client’s letter of remorse can serve to demonstrate their insight into the offense as well as a growing understanding of the interconnected choices, challenges, trauma, and dimensions of their life that have led them to this point. The letter also addresses what they are doing to implement what they have learned from their wrongdoing and from the mitigation process in order to enact change, find support, make amends, and to stay on a trajectory of growth.The best client reflection letters often emerge after engaging in several sessions with mitigation specialists that involve building trust, processing difficult life events, and collaboratively navigating a path forward.

Our team of mitigation specialists has expertise in determining if supplemental assessments would serve to strengthen the report and defense approach. In some cases, evaluations conducted by forensic psychologists or psychiatrists offer vital diagnoses, insights, and clinical recommendations to bolster the entire mitigation package. We are happy to recommend clinical and forensic professionals with whom we have worked closely or to collaborate with an attorney’s preferred specialists.

In select cases, it may be appropriate to develop a customized alternative sentence proposal. These proposals are well thought out and comprehensive; they provide judges with a meaningful, rehabilitative path for each client that would serve the client better than prison, while still accomplishing the goals of justice. We work closely to develop these proposals with non-profits, clergy, and other professionals in social services and advocacy organizations who are committed to providing oversight in conjunction with the Courts.

Our mitigation reports are highly effective tools for attorneys to utilize in plea negotiations or for sentencing. Our memoranda tell the life story of each client as well as the context surrounding the client’s actions with authenticity and sensitivity. These meticulously researched narrative accounts elicit empathy from judges and prosecutors. Every relevant theme is explored and analyzed, backed up by cutting edge scholarly research. Our mitigation experts are adept at recognizing when additional expert involvement may be helpful and determining how such expert reports and assessments can best inform and support the mitigation package.