NACDL has liaison and representative relationships to several committees at other organizations such as the ABA and ALI. These appointments can be to standing governance bodies of affiliated organizations (such as the ABA House of Delegates) or to contemporary, issue-based working groups and committees.

NACDL has liaison and representative relationships to several committees at other organizations such as the ABA and ALI. These appointments can be to standing governance bodies of affiliated organizations (such as the ABA House of Delegates) or to contemporary, issue-based working groups and committees.

As an affiliate association of the American Bar Association, NACDL has a delegate to the ABA's House of Delegates.

The Amicus Curiae Committee’s mission is to provide amicus assistance on the federal and state level in those cases that present issues of importance to criminal defendants, criminal defense lawyers, and/or the criminal justice system as a whole, and to do so in a manner that is consistent with NACDL policy and complements NACDL’s public policy advocacy initiatives.

For more information see the protocols.

The Champion magazine publishes articles discussing the latest developments in various areas of the law, including search and seizure, DUI, death penalty, white collar crime, and public defense.

The mission of the Corrections Committee is to advocate for safe and humane conditions in jails, prisons, and any other type of correctional facility. Additionally, the Committee will promote conditions and policies which assist inmates in their re-entry into society upon release.

The Death Penalty Committee's mission is to work towards abolishing the death penalty, to assist in the representation of those charged with or convicted of capital crimes, and to develop the expertise of the defense bar in defending capital cases.

In light of the abject failure of the criminal legal system of the United States, which incarcerates more individuals than any other country in the world, and recognizing the profound societal harm caused by that failure, the mission of the Decarceration Committee of the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers is to reimagine, and ultimately abolish this American carceral system, whose establishment during slavery led inexorably to its failure, and to transform and replace it with a new, more humane and rehabilitative system which recognizes the innate and equal value of every human being; where no individual shall be physically, emotionally, or psychologically harmed by virtue of his/her/their interaction with that system; where torture in any form, including solitary confinement, shall be eliminated without exception in accordance with international law; and where quality health care, including mental health care, shall not be denied to any person in the custody of any carceral institution in the United States.

The Discovery Reform Committee seeks to promote the robust and useful production of discovery to defense counsel. The Committee seeks to ensure that favorable evidence, also known as Brady material, is timely produced and that documents/data the government and its team have acquired are produced to the defense is a usable manner. The Committee will encourage legislators to enact discovery reforms in jurisdictions where discovery laws are inadequate to protect our clients' Fifth and Sixth Amendment rights. 

The Mission of the Diversity Committee is to foster all forms of diversity within NACDL's membership and throughout the legal profession. The Diversity Committee will accomplish this Mission in three ways. First, the Diversity Committee will pursue this Mission by welcoming all people without regard to race, culture, ethnicity, age, gender, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, faith, physical ability, politics, or any other meaningful characteristic. Second, the Diversity Committee will achieve its Mission by focusing on increasing the inclusion of historically marginalized segments of our society. Finally, the Diversity Committee will effectuate its Mission by evolving with the changing notions of diversity. This Mission is rooted in NACDL's commitment to being an all-inclusive community of criminal defense lawyers, and to serve as a leader, alongside diverse coalitions, in identifying and reforming flaws and inequities in the criminal justice system, and redressing systemic racism, and ensuring that its members and others in the criminal defense bar are fully equipped to serve all accused persons at the highest level.

NACDL's DUI Committee is committed to the support of quality impaired driving defense. The Committee is devoted to ensuring that lawyers who provide DUI defense services have the training, resources, and support to effectively represent their clients. The objectives of the Committee are to: (1) Present an annual seminar focusing on alerting defense lawyers to significant changes in DUI laws and law enforcement training, DUI defense trial techniques; and impeachment of relevant field sobriety and chemical testing; (2) Provide relevant DUI defense articles for publication in The Champion; (3) Raise awareness of DUI defense issues; (4) Support the protection of the constitutional rights of citizens accused of impaired driving and related offenses; (5) Bolster reforms in DUI laws, including Field Sobriety Testing and Chemical Testing, through a combination of education, public outreach, legislation, and litigation; (6) Advocate DUI penalty uniformity across the nation; (7) Suggest reforms in DUI penalties to reduce mandatory minimum jail sentences, license revocation periods and fines; (8) Advance alternative penalties such as volunteer community service, and monitoring consumption of impairing substances; (9) Encourage substance abuse treatment; (10) Promote legislation allowing for the expungement of convictions after a period of time, and/or by diversion or deferral of DUI related crimes; (11) Ensure strict compliance with sound scientific principles in all DUI investigations; and (12) Encourage the exchange of ideas and techniques among NACDL members to assist others in their legal and business practices as it relates to this area of law.

The Ethics Advisory Committee is a ready source of timely information and guidance for NACDL members with ethics issues relating to their representation of persons accused of crime. Criminal defense lawyers have ethical concerns not faced by other lawyers, so the needs for advice and consultation of NACDL members are unique. In confronting ethical issues, criminal defense lawyers have to consider the implications of the Sixth Amendment right to effective assistance of counsel, the governing state ethical rules, the law of criminal law and criminal procedure, and their personal moral code. Sometimes there may appear to be conflicting duties between ethical rules or between ethical rules and our constitutional duties to the client. The committee provides NACDL members with a sounding board to whom they can seek to explain their rationale in anticipation of having to explain it to a court, the client, or the prosecutor, or to get guidance on how to resolve a seemingly intractable question or one they cannot confidently answer. The committee provides confidential assistance to members regarding inquiries concerning ethics and professional responsibility. The committee works with the Lawyers Assistance Strike Force to come to the aid of lawyers accused of professional misconduct in their representation of persons accused of crime. Finally, the committee reviews submissions to The Champion and CLE materials to insure that NACDL members are getting consistent and correct advice on ethical matters.

NACDL's Forensic Sciences Committee addresses all manner of forensic science issues that relate to NACDL's mission. It advises NACDL's Board of Directors and officers on policy, program, training, and attorney resource issues related to forensic sciences.

The mission of the Juvenile Justice Committee is three-fold: (1) to be available as a ready LOCAL source for NACDL members with juvenile justice issues; (2) to provide local spokespersons available for media comments on juvenile justice issues and state juvenile justice legislation; and (3) to provide a national structure to deal with national juvenile justice issues such as the Federal Juvenile Justice Act, to deal with media requests for comments on national juvenile justice issues, and to work in cooperation with other organizations such as the ABA Juvenile Justice Committee.

NACDL's Lawyers Assistance Strike Force will review your case, at no cost, if you are threatened in any way for providing legal representation to a client -- if you're subpoenaed, cited for contempt, hit with a bar grievance or a motion to disqualify you from a case. For many years The Lawyers Assistance Strike Force has had a clear mission of representing and counseling criminal defense lawyers who are members of NACDL when they are imperiled with the risks of contempt, disqualification or subpoena for privileged information. Able circuit coordinators in each area of the country continue on a both formal and informal basis to be available to NACDL members, when appropriate, to offer both advice and representation in relation to a wide range of issues.

The mission of the Membership Committee is to identify and execute strategies for recruiting and retaining NACDL members.

The mission of the Mental Health Committee is to assist criminal defense lawyers representing persons with mental illness and intellectual/developmental disabilities through education and access to resources. Additionally, the Mental Health Committee stands ready to collaborate with other NACDL committees in advancing projects and initiatives involving persons with mental disabilities.

NACDL's Native American Justice Committee addresses all Native American issues that relate to NACDL's mission. The committee facilitates a conversation about issues facing Native American communities and the impact of the legal system. It advises NACDL's Board of Directors and Officers on policy, program, training, and attorney resource issues related to Native American law.

NACDL's Public Defense Committee is dedicated to the support of quality indigent defense in state and federal courts. The Committee is devoted to ensuring that systems fulfill their Sixth Amendment obligations and that lawyers providing public defense services have the training, resources, and support to do so effectively. The objectives of the Committee are: (1) to raise awareness of public defense issues; (2) to advance reforms of public defense systems through a combination of public outreach, legislation, and litigation; and (3) to facilitate access to training by supporting NACDL's public defense training programs.

The Sex Offender Policy Committee monitors and responds to existing and new policies on the local, state and federal level that affect individuals convicted of a sex offense. Committee members litigate cases, participate on panels, conduct research and represent NACDL on advisory committees addressing policies associated with registries, civil commitment, and the Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act (SORNA).

The State Legislative Affairs Committee helps guide initiatives of NACDL's state based advocacy program. Members of the committee are actively engaged in progressive state criminal justice reform legislation; and staving off regressive initiatives that seek to implement dehumanizing or unnecessarily punitive policies. The committee also assists in the planning of the Annual State Criminal Justice Network Conference (SCJN) and administers witness funds to affiliates and other advocates seeking experts to testify at hearings and legislative committees across the country. In addition, the Committee accepts applications for and chooses the recipient of the Champion of State Criminal Justice Reform Award presented at the SCJN Conference each year.

This committee's purpose is to establish policy and the ethics of artificial intelligence and to monitor the impact that AI will have on criminal defense lawyers and their defendants.

The mission of the Task Force on First Step Implementation is to take all necessary steps to ensure the full implementation of the First Step Act. There are two principal aspects to this: first, ensuring that the Department of Justice and the Bureau.

NACDL's Title IX Committee is dedicated to protecting the rights of students facing sexual misconduct proceedings in a college or university setting. To this end, the Committee is devoted to ensuring that lawyers who function as student advisors have the training and support required for effective student representation. The Committee seeks to improve legal representation of students subject to Title IX proceedings in the following ways:

- Development of a best practices guide;
- Creating CLEs for lawyers who represent students;
- Advocacy for legislative and administrative proposals;
- Promoting awareness about developments in Title IX case law and guidance from the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights;
- Writing articles for publication in The Champion

The White Collar Crime Committee supports NACDL's initiatives for the defense of white collar enforcement matters. The Committee works: to advocate legislative, regulatory, prosecutorial, and sentencing standards that protect accused persons and entities in white collar matters; to educate stakeholders about the implications of existing and proposed standards; to educate the bar and the public; to encourage NACDL involvement by white collar criminal defense practitioners and others; and to strengthen NACDL as a whole.

The mission of the Committee on Women in Criminal Defense is to provide women with the support and resources necessary to enable them to advance and thrive throughout all levels of NACDL and the broader criminal defense profession.

The Audit Committee oversees the Association's financial practices, internal controls, financial management and standards of fiscal conduct. It is responsible for reviewing financial statements, reporting to the Board of Directors that financial statements accurately reflect the Associations financial condition, determining the adequacy of internal controls surrounding financial information systems, and ensuring adherence to the Association's conflict-of-interest policy. The committee consists of no fewer than five members, the majority of whom are current members of NACDL's board of directors. Audit Committee members serve five year terms, and are nominated by the president and confirmed by the Board of Directors.

The Board of Directors manages the business and affairs of the Association.

The Budget Committee develops and recommends a budget for the Association, with the advice and recommendation of the Executive Committee, to the Board of Directors. The Budget Committee considers and makes recommendations to the Board of Directors regarding any amendments to the Association's approved annual budget after said Board of Directors meeting.

The Bylaws Committee ensures that amendments to the Bylaws are properly made. The Bylaws Committee's membership includes at least one member of the Executive Committee; at least one member of the Elections Committee; and at least one member of the Board of Directors.

The mission of the NACDL CLE Institute is to develop and execute NACDL's CLE curriculum in a manner that maintains the integrity of its programs and status as the premiere CLE provider for the criminal defense bar. The Institute will ensure the viability, efficiency, continuity, quality, and profitability of NACDL seminars by overseeing, planning, and implementing cutting-edge programming to foster excellence and high ethical standards in criminal defense practice.

The Elections Committee consists of no less than five members appointed by the President to supervise the conduct of elections, provide guidance concerning elections to the Executive Director and to resolve any disputes regarding the election process. In the event, of a dispute, the Elections Committee resolves the dispute and maintains a written record setting forth the reasons for its decision. This record is provided to the Board of Directors at the next meeting. Any adverse decision of the Elections Committee may be appealed to the Board of Directors, whose decision shall be final. Election disputes within the association are rare. The structure of the Elections Committee and its duties are described in more detail in the Bylaws at Article VII, Section 6.

The Executive Committee exists to act on Association business and transactions during the interim period between Board of Directors Meetings. It meets as necessary, either telephonically or via other electronic transmission, to manage the business of the Association. The Executive Committee consists of the President, President-Elect, First Vice-President, Second Vice-President, Treasurer, Secretary, Immediate Past-President, and two members of the Board of Directors. Other duties of the Executive Committee are described at https://www.nacdl.org/bylaws/#article7.

The Bylaws (Article VII, Section 11) established a Governance Committee, which shall biennially present its report and recommendations to the Board of Directors regarding the size and composition of the Board of Directors.

The Internal Complaint Committee investigates alleged violations of NACDL's Code of Conduct and Personal Conduct Policy as applied to all NACDL officers, past presidents and members of the NACDL Board of Directors.

The Investment committee develops and implement investment policies and investment ratios, and oversees the investment advisers and managers so as to preserve the Associations capital and increase it in a prudent manner.

The Nominating Committee recruits and nominates candidates for election as Directors and Officers of the Association. The committee consists of nine members, each serving staggered three-year terms.

The Foundation for Criminal Justice Board of Trustees manages the affairs of the foundation.

The Audit Committee oversees the FCJ's financial practices, internal controls, financial management and standards of fiscal conduct. It is responsible for reviewing financial statements, reporting to the Board of Trustees that financial statements accurately reflect the Associations financial condition, determining the adequacy of internal controls surrounding financial information systems, and ensuring adherence to the Foundation's conflict-of-interest policy. The committee consists of no fewer than three members, the majority of whom are current members of the FCJ's board of trustees. FCJ Audit Committee members serve three year terms, and are nominated by the president and confirmed by the Board of Trustees.