Why Belong to NACDL?

MEMBERSHIP MAKES A DIFFERENCE

When you belong to NACDL, you take a step toward enhancing your own career through the networking, peer support, and educational tools NACDL provides.

As a member of NACDL, you are part of a network of criminal justice lawyers and advocates who value fairness, reforming flaws and inequities in the criminal justice system, and redressing systemic racism.  

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Here are some of the reasons NACDL members are among America's most knowledgeable, best-connected criminal defense lawyers:

  • Connect, learn & strategize with other members on our discussion groups at NACDLConnect! Search past communications as well as participate in current discussions.
  • Get issues of The Champion  - read it on paper, online, or on your phone! Members can search archived issues online. What a great resource! 
  • Your membership pays for itself with discounts from our NACDL Affinity partners
  • Updated and Reorganized NACDL Resource Center featuring the Engage and Exchange discussion series, case-based tools, forensics resources, an expert database, and postconviction materials.
  • NEW Mentoring Program Mentor For A Moment provides personalized, 1-on-1 advice from accomplished defense attorneys for guidance and support for your cases.
  • Support the profession through NACDL's advocacy work in the legislatures and in the courts. 
  • The Daily Criminal Justice Briefing is a digest of criminal justice articles from journals and media outlets, in your email inbox every day. 
  • Discounts on NACDL's top-notch, defense-only, CLE events.
  • Discounts on NACDL educational products, including resource manuals and trial guides that cover a wide variety of topics and specialty areas.
  • 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 the NACDL Strike Force will review your case, at no cost.
  • NACDL has partnered with Association Health Programs (AHP) to offer NACDL members a variety of health insurance programs.
  • Build your network of contacts, sharpen your leadership skills, and maximize your membership investment by joining an NACDL Committee, Task Force, or discussion group.
  • Receive litigation assistance in cases raising new Fourth Amendment concerns through NACDL's Fourth Amendment Center. 
  • Share your knowledge and practical tips by writing an article for The Champion.
  • Support NACDL as it leads the way through its Amicus Curiae program.
 
Membership Categories Dues 
Regular Member - Criminal defense attorneys in private practice, admitted to the bar more than six years. $354
Public Defender - Full-time attorney at government Public Defender office or legal services nonprofit. Does not include assigned counsel or contract work.  $149
New Lawyer - Private attorneys in their first six years of practice, based on date of first admission to the bar. $214
Law Professor - Professors employed full time on the faculties of accredited law schools. $224
Military - Full-time, active duty military lawyers engaged primarily in criminal defense. $224
Judge - Full-time members of the judiciary $224
Associate Members - Persons who are not criminal defense lawyers, but whose work supports the criminal defense profession, including non-lawyers who support the goals and objectives of NACDL.  $224
International - Criminal Defense Lawyers who hold passports from countries other than the United States and Canada. International members do not receive a print version of The Champion®. You can access the online magazine here. Print copies can be requested, but shipping charges will apply. $214
Law Student - Students in an accredited law school working toward a J.D. degree. Membership is FREE. Click here for more information. FREE
Life Member* - One-time contribution or 5 yearly installments of $1,300 each. Expanded online profile. $6,500
Presidents Club * - Donor Member, with an expanded online profile $779
Sustaining Member * - Donor Member, with an expanded online profile $549

 

For your protection, we cannot accept credit card information by email. Please Note:  Annual Dues may be deductible as an ordinary and necessary business expense for federal income tax purposes. NACDL estimates that 1.6% of your total membership dues are allocable to lobbying activities of the Association and therefore not deductible for income tax purposes as ordinary and necessary business expense. $90 of annual dues applies to a one-year subscription to The Champion. Contributions to the NACDL Foundation for Criminal Justice are fully tax-deductible. 

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RECENTLY ADDED & UPCOMING

  1. The Champion
    March/April 2025 Cover

    March/April 2025

    What are the evidentiary implications of field sobriety tests in marijuana cases? Does the odor of marijuana give officers probable cause to search a vehicle?

  2. Amicus Brief
    March/April 2025 Cover

    Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr LLP v. Executive Office of the President

    Brief of the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers and New York Council of Defense Lawyers as Amici Curiae in Support of Plaintiff’s Motion for Summary Judgment.

  3. News Release

    Nation’s Defense Bar Reiterates Opposition to Actions Against Law Firms – Washington, DC (March 18, 2025)

    The National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers (NACDL) remains deeply concerned over recent executive orders targeting law firms, most recently Paul Weiss and Perkins Coie, and repeats its call to uphold the right to counsel and the independence of the legal profession. Despite a ruling blocking the action against Perkins Coie, the administration has continued to target law firms representing disfavored clients and positions, threatening the right to a zealous defense.

  4. Live Event
    2025 Forensic Science & Technology Seminar Cover

    2025 Forensic Science & Technology Seminar

    "Making Sense of Science: Forensic Science, Technology & the Law"

    LOCATION: Sahara Las Vegas Hotel & Casino, Las Vegas, NV
    DATES: April 24-26, 2025

  5. Trials, Technology, and the Fourth Amendment: Case Law Review [Engage & Exchange]

    EXCLUSIVE NACDL MEMBER BENEFIT
    WHEN:
    Tuesday, April 29, 2:00-3:30pm ET / 11:00am-12:30pm PT
    CLE CREDIT: not available
    COST: Free

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