The Sixth Edition of the Trial Manual for the Defense of Criminal Cases is now available. Visit the ALI CLE website to place an order for the printed volumes. Public defenders may request a free electronic copy of the Trial Manual. Please email communications@ali.org to request the free PDF Volumes.

The Trial Manual, authored by Anthony G. Amsterdam and Randy Hertz and published by The American Law Institute Continuing Legal Education (ALI CLE), is an update of their widely used how-to guide for handling criminal court cases.  The Manual, last published in 1988, was a joint project of the American College of Trial Lawyers, National Defender Project of the National Legal Aid and Defender Association, and ALI-ABA Committee on Continuing Professional Education.

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 softbound print version will be available for sale on the ALI CLE website before the end of the year.  This electronic edition is being made available for use prior to the publication of the printed book.  In the printed book, page numbers will change from those in this document; the substantive contents will not change.

Therefore, when citing to this work, please cite using section numbers instead of using page numbers.

Please note the sample citations below.

    Full citation:

• Anthony G. Amsterdam & Randy Hertz, Trial Manual 6 for the Defense of Criminal Cases § 15.4 (6th ed. 2016).
• Anthony G. Amsterdam & Randy Hertz, Trial Manual 6 for the Defense of Criminal Cases § 28.1.2 (6th ed. 2016).
• Anthony G. Amsterdam & Randy Hertz, Trial Manual 6 for the Defense of Criminal Cases § 42.5 (4)(i) (6th ed. 2016).

    Short-form citation used after the first full citation:

• Amsterdam & Hertz, supra, § 28.5.4.

    Law review article style (small caps):

• Anthony G. Amsterdam & Randy Hertz, Trial Manual 6 for the Defense of Criminal Cases § 15.1 (6th ed. 2016).

Read the feature article on the Trial Manual from the latest edition of The ALI Reporter.