The Federal Sentencing Guidelines are the starting point for any federal judge at sentencing. The law requires that the judge properly calculate the applicable Guidelines range before imposing sentence. The Guidelines take information about the offense and information about the criminal history of the defendant and provide a sentencing range measured in months. The base offense level is determined by certain circumstances related to the offense and the criminal history category is determined mostly by the length of prior criminal sentences. The law requires that after calculating the Guidelines, the judge also consider a variety of factors laid out by Congress in 18 U.S.C. § 3553(a). A criminal defense lawyer should be an advocate at sentencing just as she is an advocate during the litigation phase of a case. The sentencing phase of a case involves developing mitigation, conducting investigation, and crafting legal and equitable arguments. Every person deserves individualized advocacy that not only tells the story of the person’s life but also offers evidence-backed alternatives to a custodial sentence. The art of sentencing advocacy is the ability to develop these arguments effectively to receive the outcome that benefits our clients.