Course Description: Winning on appeal requires you to convince the Court that your client was unjustly convicted or sentenced.  Using graphics can help you tell your client's story of injustice in a more convincing and persuasive way. During this presentation, you will learn why visually appealing briefs are credible, memorable and persuasive.  We will discuss different types of graphics to use in your brief, considerations of when and how to include them, and reminders about compliance with your Court's rules.

Course Instructor: Melinda Pendergraph has been the Training Director for the Missouri State Public Defender's Office since 2011. Melinda is a career public defender, representing clients in circuit courts and all appellate courts in Missouri. Most of her practice focused on death penalty postconviction and appellate cases. Melinda has served as faculty for state and national training programs, including NLADA's Appellate Defender Training, the Federal Court's Persuasive Writing Workshops, NLADA Life in the Balance, NAACP Legal Defense Fund's Airlie Death Penalty Conference, the Missouri Bar, Missouri Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers (MACDL), and various State Public Defender organizations. She has taught a death penalty seminar at University of Missouri - Columbia School of Law. In 2006, Melinda received NLADA's "Kutak-Dodd's Prize” awarded annually to one public defender nationally for their dedication to equal justice. MACDL awarded Melinda their "Lew Kollias Award” for her appellate advocacy. In 1993, MSPD designated Melinda as their Defender of Distinction.