MDLPA: Overview - Traumatic Brain Injury and the Law
Presented by: Michael Perlin, JD and Heather Ellis Cucolo, JD
1 Hour / 1 CE
On Demand | Self-Paced Professional Training
This on-demand professional training program on Overview: Traumatic Brain Injury and the Law is presented by Michael L. Perlin, JD, and Heather Ellis Cucolo in partnership with Mental Disability Law and Policy Associates.
Individuals with traumatic brain injuries (TBI) have a great risk of becoming justice-involved. Research has established that persons accused of criminal behavior are at a high risk of having traumatic brain injuries that predate the offense with which they are charged. In such cases, there often is no discussion of diversion opportunities or a need for comprehensive evaluation and treatment. Often, expert witnesses assigned to evaluate such individuals have no experience dealing with this specific population, Additionally, attorneys assigned to represent this cohort may not have encountered individuals with TBI before and may not be familiar with behavioral manifestations that could be relevant as a defense or as mitigation in individual cases.
A turn to the principles of therapeutic jurisprudence – focusing on dignity, voice, validation, and voluntariness -- best offers lawyers (and judicial officers) an opportunity to remediate the full range of underlying issues that arise in cases involving variously quality of counsel, incompetency, insanity, death penalty, jury attitudes, perspectives from the bench, probation, and correctional issues. Why therapeutic must be taken seriously as a means of remediating the current untenable situation is discussed.
Learning Objectives
Upon completion of this training, participants will be able to:
-
1
Describe the significance of expert testimony in cases involving defendants with TBI and recognize why adequacy-of-counsel is the crucial “hidden” issue in many cases - 2 Describe ways that TBI influences legal decision-making in the criminal justice process
-
3
Describe the relationship between traumatic brain injury and critical stages of the criminal trial process (including the incompetency status and the insanity defense) -
4
Describe how to apply case law that has developed in this area to the key related questions in death penalty litigation (mitigation, future dangerousness, competency to be executed).
Presented By
Michael L. Perlin, JD
Michael L. Perlin is Professor of Law Emeritus at New York Law School (NYLS), founding director of NYLS’s Online Mental Disability Law Program, and founding director of NYLS’s International Mental Disability Law Reform Project in its Justice Action Center. He is also the co-founder of Mental Disability Law and Policy Associates. He has written 31 books and nearly 300 articles on all aspects of mental disability law, many of which deal with the overlap between mental disability law and criminal law and procedure.
Presented By
Heather Ellis Cucolo, JD, Prof. Distinguished Adj., NYLS; Owner, MDLPA; Prof. Adj., Emory University School of Law; Bd. Dir. Collier School
Heather Ellis Cucolo is Distinguished Adjunct professor of law and the facilitator of the joint JD/MA program with John Jay College of Criminal Justice, at New York Law School (NYLS). She is also an adjunct professor in the JM Program at Emory University School of Law, and a Fellowship faculty member at Albert Einstein College of Medicine. In addition to those roles, Professor Cucolo is co-owner of Mental Disability Law and Policy Associates, a legal education and professional training company, and was elected to the board of trustees for the International Society of Therapeutic Jurisprudence, a non-profit organization. Formerly, in her full-time legal practice, Professor Cucolo dedicated her career to representing individuals at trial facing civil commitment under both the New Jersey Mental Hygiene Law and New Jersey’s Sexually Violent Predators Act. She authored and argued appeals before the New Jersey Appellate Division with over 27 reported decisions. She has published four textbooks and over 21 law review articles with mentions in an Eastern District of New York court decision and an Iowa appellate decision. She was honored to receive the Otto L. Walter Distinguished Writing Award for two consecutive years in 2018 and 2019. Professor Cucolo’s international work has included: expert testimony on extradition from the United Kingdom to the United States for persons convicted of a sex offense; pro bono advocacy for LawAid International; speaking at the United Nations on the rights of persons with disabilities in the Asia-Pacific region; and the creation of an instructional course on disability legislation for attorneys in Japan.
Training Outline
Key topics covered in this training include:
-
TBI and Justice Involvement
- Elevated risk of justice involvement among individuals with TBI
- Research linking TBI to criminally accused populations
- Lack of attention to diversion, evaluation, and treatment opportunities -
Challenges in Legal and Forensic Practice
- Limited expertise of expert witnesses in TBI-related cases
- Attorneys’ unfamiliarity with behavioral manifestations of TBI
- Missed opportunities for defense or mitigation -
Therapeutic Jurisprudence Framework
- Core principles: dignity, voice, validation, and voluntariness
- Application to legal and judicial practice -
Applications Across Legal Contexts
- Quality of counsel and competency proceedings
- Insanity defenses and death penalty considerations
- Jury attitudes and judicial perspectives
- Probation and correctional implications -
Why Therapeutic Jurisprudence Matters
- Addressing systemic shortcomings in TBI-related cases
- Opportunities to remediate underlying issues in current practice
- Path toward more humane and effective justice outcomes
We are proud to partner with
Mental Disability Law and Policy Associates (MDLPA)
We are proud to partner with Mental Disability Law and Policy Associates, LLC for this training. MDLPA is a boutique educational training company that offers specialized mental disability law consulting, the creation or enhancement of distance learning programs, in-house or online courses, and day or weekend training seminars to reputable organizations, educational institutions, professional groups, and advocacy groups focused on providing advanced knowledge and skills to persons working with marginalized populations.
CE Sponsorship Information
Palo Alto University, Continuing & Professional Studies (CONCEPT) is approved by, recognized by, or maintains sponsorship provider status with the following boards and agencies. We maintain responsibility for all content in our CE/CPD programs. For more information, visit here.
American Psychological Association (APA): Approved sponsor of continuing education for psychologists.
Association of Social Work Boards (ASWB): Approved continuing education provider (ACE program, Provider #1480), 11/22/2023–11/22/2026.
Canadian Psychological Association (CPA): Approved to sponsor continuing education for psychologists.
National Board for Certified Counselors (NBCC): Approved Continuing Education Provider (ACEP No. 7190).
Palo Alto University, Continuing and Professional Studies (CONCEPT) is approved by the American Psychological Association to sponsor continuing education for psychologists. Palo Alto University, Continuing and Professional Studies (CONCEPT) maintains responsibility for this program and its content. Palo Alto University, Continuing and Professional Studies (CONCEPT), is approved by the Canadian Psychological Association to offer continuing education for psychologists. Palo Alto University, Continuing and Professional Studies (CONCEPT), SW CPE is recognized by the New York State Education Department’s State Board for Social Work as an approved provider of continuing education for licensed social workers #SW-0356 and the New York State Education Department’s State Board for Mental Health Practitioners as an approved provider of continuing education for licensed mental health counselors. #MHC-0073. Palo Alto University, Continuing and Professional Studies (CONCEPT) has been approved by NBCC as an Approved Continuing Education Provider, ACEP No. 6811. Programs that do not qualify for NBCC credit are clearly identified. CONCEPT Professional Training, #1480, is approved to offer social work continuing education by the Association of Social Work Boards (ASWB) Approved Continuing Education (ACE) program. Organizations, not individual courses, are approved as ACE providers. State and provincial regulatory boards have the final authority to determine whether an individual course may be accepted for continuing education credit. CONCEPT Professional Training maintains responsibility for this course. ACE provider approval period: 11/22/23-11/22/26. Social workers completing this course receive (clinical or social work ethics) continuing education credits.