Four of the lawyers who cleared former Duke University lacrosse players of bogus rape charges will speak about the case at a seminar sponsored by the state Academy of Trial Lawyers.

The session is set for Nov. 30 and is aimed at lawyers, according to a news release from the organization.

The lawyers on the panel each bolstered their already-formidable reputations in their defense of the lacrosse players. The speakers will be Joseph B. Cheshire V, Brad Bannon, Wade Smith and Jim Cooney.

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A Senate Judiciary committee agreed to make minor changes to a 2004 law that requires prosecutors to open case files to defendants.

The proposal represents a compromise between the N.C. Conference of District Attorneys, which sought greater leeway to withhold details of some witness interviews from defense attorneys, and the N.C. Academy of Trial Lawyers, Lynn Bonner reports.

Under the compromise, prosecutors would not have to make notes of witness interviews for disclosure unless the information is new or significantly different from previous witness statements. The state would not have to disclose the identity of confidential informants.

The initial proposal gained resonance coming in the fallout of the Duke lacrosse case, in which Durham District Attorney Mike Nifong withheld DNA evidence.

Brad Bannon, incoming chairman of the N.C. Academy of Trial Lawyer's criminal defense section, said the proposal makes "narrow exceptions to the open file rule."