Legal Profession Blog

Ohio Supreme Court Proposes CLE Changes

The web page of the Ohio Supreme Court reports:

Proposed continuing legal education (CLE) changes announced today by the Ohio Supreme Court would double the number of online credit hours attorneys could earn, allow attorneys to earn a portion of their CLE hours by engaging in approved pro bono activities, and eliminate the requirement to file final reporting transcripts.

The Ohio Supreme Court will accept public comment until July 10 on the proposed changes.

According to Attorney Services Director Susan Christoff, the proposed changes to Gov. Bar R. X resulted from a year-long study by the Commission on Continuing Legal Education and incorporated feedback from a survey of the state’s judges and active attorneys about what changes they would like made to CLE requirements.

Under the proposed rule changes, the self-study credit hours an attorney could earn each biennial period would increase from 6 to 12 hours.

As for pro bono credit, attorneys could receive 1 hour of CLE credit for every 6 hours of pro bono service up to a maximum of 6 credit hours for service performed during a biennial compliance period. To be eligible for such credit, the attorney’s pro bono service must be verified by a bar association or other organization recognized by the commission as providing pro bono programs and services in Ohio.

Attorneys still will be required to earn 24 hours every 2 years and be subject to monetary sanction and suspension for failing to meet the minimum hour requirement. However, attorneys no longer would be required to file a final reporting transcript.

Several other CLE changes are proposed as well.

• Credit could be awarded for presentations that occur concurrent with the consumption of a meal.
• The range of recommended sanction fines for noncompliant attorneys would be lowered for hour deficiencies with the upper limit reduced from $500 to $300.
• The time deadline in which attorneys would need to cure their hour deficiencies would be moved up by almost a month.

As for judges, they would be required to obtain 3 hours of “judicial conduct” instruction through courses offered by the Judicial College. Judicial conduct includes instruction on judicial ethics, professionalism, access to justice and fairness in the courts, and/or alcoholism, substance abuse, or mental health issues. Judges would no longer be required to take 2 separate hours of instruction on access to justice and fairness in the course but may include such instruction toward their 3-hour judicial conduct requirement.

Access the text of the proposed CLE changes.

(Mike Frisch)

Joint Report Recommends Changes to Legal Education for Practice and CLE Training

Posted by Alan Childress

From a press release this morning:

Recommendations for improving the training of lawyers to meet the challenges of the 21st century were explored at Equipping Our Lawyers: Law School Education, Continuing Legal Education, and Legal Practice in the 21st Century, a summit organized by ALI-ABA Continuing Professional Education and the Association for Continuing Legal Education (ACLEA) in October of last year.

The summit examined the entire spectrum of lawyer training and development, and recommended ways in which all constituencies within the profession can improve their cooperation toward the goal of a competent bar.  ALI-ABA and ACLEA have now released the Final Report containing recommendations that emerged from the summit. [or: Download Finalreport] Among the final recommendations are: 

-- Develop model core practice competencies keyed to each level of a lawyer’s professional career.
 
-- Design and share transitional training programs in legal practice skills starting in law school and continuing through at least the first two years of practice.

-- Consider reformulating bar examinations to include phased examination, linked in part to attainment of legal practice skills, with some parts as early as in the law school years.

-- Accredit in-house continuing legal education programming similarly to that produced by other CLE providers.

-- Develop appropriate accreditation standards for all varieties of distance learning CLE.

-- Expand law school and CLE programming to prepare and encourage law students and lawyers to represent underserved communities.

Center on the Profession at Akron Law Features Adam Liptak on April 6

Posted by Alan Childress

Kicking off some of the great legal profession and ethics work now being done at the new U. Akron Joseph G. Miller and William C. Becker Center for Professional Responsibility is their inaugural offering in the Distinguished Lecturer Series on Journalism and the Law.  And it is none other than Adam Liptak of the NYTimes [right] so you know it will be interesting; his topic is Covering the Roberts Court in the Obama Era: A Reporter's Reflections.  I suspect we may hear about the Chief's fairly public complaint of feeling ambushed-ish at the State of the Union -- and on Justice Scalia's Not True heard round the world (and yes he does think it is round), for which I am grateful he did not take the oratorical lead from our Vice President yesterday in mouthing those words. Details from the center's website:

"April 6, 2010 at 4 p.m. Free and open to the public, however registration is required. One hour of free CLE credit will be offered."

More on the new Miller-Becker Center here.   Thanks, U of Akron, and well done.

Also coming April 23 is Ohio State's Nancy Rogers.  {oops--edited to note that she came last year and this is not 2009! If either Miller or Becker has invented a time machine, they are wasting it on transporting Nancy Rogers, as good as she is.  I am just saying.}

Conference on Lawyer Marketing Through Online Social Networks

Posted by Jeff Lipshaw

Suffolk University Law School is hosting a program entitled Avoiding the Ethical Minefield of Online Social Networking and Marketing:  Do You Know Who Your Friends Are? on Thursday, March 11, 2010 from 4:00 - 6:30 p.m. at 120 Tremont Street in the heart of downtown Boston.  Featured speakers include Legal Ethics Forum luminaries, colleague Andrew Perlman (Suffolk) and John Steele (Visiting, Indiana - Bloomington) and James Sokolove of the ubiquitous television commercials advertising for mesothelioma (a particular kind of asbestos-related cancer) plaintiffs.  Also a chance to pick a couple of those hard-to-come-by "ethics hours" for CLE.

Loyola Law Prof Starts New Website and Twitter Feed on Louisiana Ethics and Bar Discipline

Posted by Alan Childress

This new site, Louisiana Legal Ethics, will be iPhone optimized and includes a homepage blog on Louisiana rules, issues, and decisions.  It is the product of Loyola professor (and Tulane alum) Dane Ciolino with contributions and updates from Loyola students.  One of its many nice features will occur when it "will offer free continuing legal education ('CLE') videos which will qualify for Louisiana MCLE ethics and professionalism credit."  It also has a free eBook to the annotated ethics rules in Louisiana (a very useful text that now will be updated in real time).  For those taking the upcoming MPRE, consider these incredibly useful flowcharts or "mindmaps."

Congrats, Dane, and I know all your hard work and linked resources will be appreciated.

ALI-ABA Offers Legal Ethics CLE via Web or Phone on August 27

"Hot Topics in Legal Ethics 2009."  Date:  Thurs., Aug. 27, 2009, at 1:00-2:00 p.m. eastern time, for 1.0 or 1.2 hours of ethics credit.

Topics include: recent decisions on conflicts of interest, screening, and disqualification (including Caperton v. Massey by the U.S. Supreme Court); how courts are using the rules of professional conduct in malpractice cases; and trends in disciplinary filings. 

[Alan Childress]

ALI-ABA Offers Two Ethics CLEs March 24 and March 31, 2009

Posted by Alan Childress

By telephone or audio webcast, ALI-ABA has two upcoming CLE programs of interest to those following legal ethics or needing ethics hours:

• Lawyer Ethics and Risk Management in an Economic Downturn, Tues., March 24, at 1:00 pm eastern.

• Confidentiality and Attorney-Client Communications, Tues.,  March 31, 2009, also 1:00 eastern.

The latter programs asks, provocatively:

You mention to someone you just met at a cocktail party that you are an attorney.  Without warning, she tells you the details of her son's DUI case and asks you for your advice   .  .  .  .   Someone uses the "Contact Us" link on your firm's website to send you a message filled with confidential facts about his pending case  .  .  .  .  Do these encounters create attorney-client relationships and are these communications privileged?

Ethics of Email CLE: Tomorrow in D.C.

Posted by Alan Childress

Sounds good, and is certainly affordable for 2 hours of ethics CLE credit. Provided by the D.C. Bar.  To be held, pending weather, Wednesday, January 28, 2009, from 6:00-8:15 pm:

This interactive program uses hypothetical scenarios to explore unique issues involving the use of electronic communications and documents by lawyers. This practical class will help you to learn about the ethical limits on using new technologies when communicating with clients and others; the ethics implications of working with service providers and discarding electronic files; the rules governing communications with adversaries (including ex parte contacts, metadata, and sending "unscrubbed" documents, inadvertent transmittal of communications from adversaries, and limits on deceptive conduct); outsourcing of legal work; duty to retain electronic documents when anticipating litigation; and preparing privilege logs for electronic communications.

Location:  D.C. Bar Conference Center, at 1250 H Street, NW, near New York and 13th.

ALI-ABA Ethics Hour on Negotiations Jan. 15, 2009 By Webcast or Telephone

ALI-ABA programs are usually considered quite good.  Here is one, The Ethics of Negotiation, available nationwide Thurs., 1/15/09 at 1:00 eas.; accredited or potentially so in 41 listed states.  Live via audio web or phone. Speakers are here, tuition is $149, and 1 or 1.2 CLE ethics hrs. accrue.  [Alan Childress]

ABA Ethics Teleconference 12:00 Today and "Value Billing"

Great post by David Giacalone at f/k/a about "value billing" and linking today's ABA teleconference (noon est, 90 min.) on fees, billing and related legal ethics issues.  [Alan Childress]

Colorado Bar's Legal Ethics CLE (on Dec. 4 or Jan. 8) Emphasizes Leadership Skills

"Tired of the same old lectures on the ethics rules?  Looking for a fresh approach to exploring key Rules of Professional Conduct from the perspective of leadership principles and the varying dimensions of individual contribution?  ...You can earn [three hours of] CLE Ethics credits while acquiring the tools to further your leadership skills from a most distinguished team of inspirational and proven professionals."  The program is called Legal Ethics: From Bedrock to Beacon, and it is live 12/4/08 in Denver, with video replays in various CO cities on 1/8/09.  [Alan Childress]

Legal Ethics CLE in Denver Dec. 8 at the Ritz-Carlton and Near Skiing

The 13th annual Ethics CLE, called Ethics:  Because It's More Than Just the Rules, is sponsored by CLE International. Up to 7 ethics hours are available.  It is at the Ritz-Carlton in Denver 12/8/08.  Home study is also available, but then you'd miss the snow.  Or is it too early for that?  Brochure pdf here. [Alan Childress]

ABA Section on Family Law Holds Conference Early October in Arizona

Posted by Alan Childress

2008 Fall CLE Conference
October 2-5, 2008, Camelback Inn—Scottsdale, AZ            

"Come for the CLE, stay for the sun, spa, and golf! Your whole family will enjoy the Southwest and all the amenities the Camelback Inn resort offers! Create great memories on the green, the hiking trails, the tennis and basketball courts, or just relaxing by the pool(s)."  Link is here.  The CLE component, Oct. 3-4, includes ethics hours, ADR, reproductive technologies, pensions, and trial tips. Ethics topics include conflicts of interest and related issues, and this intriguing session:

Lawyers in LaLa Land: Images of Legal Ethics & Professionalism in the Movies
Program Producers: Lori Nelson, Salt Lake City, UT, and Jonathan Wolfe, Livingston, NJ

"This fast-paced program will discuss legal ethics, professionalism and trial practice techniques using examples from your favorite legal movies. The information is current, relevant, practical and fun. This is a presentation that can’t be missed."
Moderator: Lori Nelson, and Speaker: Andrew Schultz, Albuquerque, NM

Conference Announcement: Using Empirical Data in Jury Trials

Posted by Jeff Lipshaw

My colleague and suite-mate, Mike Rustad, is co-chairing "Successful Strategies for Jury Trials," a day-long conference to be held at the Suffolk University Law School here in the heart of downtown Boston on Friday, October 24, 2008.  The panels will include state and federal judges, distinguished trial lawyers, and two of the leading academics in jury research, Professor Valerie Hans (left) of the Cornell Law School, and Neil Vidmar (right) of the Duke Law School.  Take a look at the brochure:  the topics will include how to conduct pretrial jury management in light of empirical research, the best trial strategies, insights into how juries make decisions, how juries perceive experts, and the role of jury consultants.

Highly recommended.  Enroll while it's hot!

Notre Dame Combines Legal Ethics CLE With Football Tickets on Home Saturdays, Except Michigan Game

The program and schedule are here.  Nice idea.    "In addition to the two-hour CLE, a limited supply of football tickets is available to CLE participants. A participant may purchase up to two football tickets, while limited supplies last, and those tickets will be available for pick-up during the CLE."  Nice enforcement.

The 2-hour CLE programs are on a variety of subjects, some including ethics hours.  The Michigan game is sold out but the CLE program itself seems available.  Participants need not be Notre Dame alumni.  Indeed, far from it, Jeff could go.

"What it was, was football."  [Alan Childress]

Idaho Bar Using Musical Parodies and a Humorist to Teach Legal Ethics CLE in Sun Valley October 9

Posted by Alan Childress

Using the "Ethics Rock!" program developed by Jack Marshall and his ProEthics seminars, the Idaho bar offers two ethics credits as part of its larger conference in Sun Valley October 8-10, 2008.  The conference's program brochure is here.  Another ethics/professionalism credit is earned watching “Sue Onto Others As You Would Have Them Sue Onto You,” featuring lawyer-humorist and 1992 Harvard Law graduate Sean Carter, who says: “Under Rule 8.4, it is professional misconduct to commit a criminal act  that reflects adversely on your honest, trustworthiness or fitness to practice law. Needless to say, stabbing opposing counsel in the parking lot creates such an adverse reflection.” 

Carter, shown right, also offers to state bars and law firms other humorous programs that seriously deal with ethics, advertising and marketing, substance abuse, writing and presentation, and diversity awareness including elimination of bias.  And Marshall has two new musical programs, on more rock and also the blues.

In the Idaho program, also, Neil Siegel -- a Duke law prof and fellow alum of Berkeley's Jurisprudence and Social Policy doctoral program -- will give a U.S. Supreme Court update for 2.5 credits.

Upcoming Minnesota Ethics CLEs (Including Today) Are Also Available for Out-of-Staters

Posted by Alan Childress
The late-June fare out of Minnesota looks interesting and the remote programs are pretty affordable.  An archived one available to non-Minnesota participants, and earning 2 hours credit, is "Chemical Dependency and Mental Health in the Legal Profession." (I don't know if that earns an 'ethics' credit, but all the following seem to, and seem to be credited throughout the U.S.)  "The Family Law Series: Ethics," is webcast live today (6/19) at 9:00 am cst.  And tomorrow offers a 3-hour ethics programs for in-house counsel (but video only, in state), and also one webcast live on a topic that I rarely see but sounds very useful to some:  Winding Down a Law Practice.  On June 25, see the live webcast of Ethics - Best Practices in Business Development, for 3 MCLE credits.  Then Monday, June 30 means two 1-hr. programs on "conflicts checks" and on "lessons from recent discipline cases."

Chicago CLE June 13 on Ethics for Government Lawyers

Celebrate Friday the 13th, June 2008, in Chicago with nearly 4 hours of MCLE ethics credit taught in skit-and-discussion format, by the Illinois State Bar.  It is Ethical Considerations for Government Lawyers:  "The program will consist of various scenarios, portrayed by the panelists, and depicting complex ethical dilemmas confronted by public sector attorneys.  Each skit will be followed by a discussion of the ethical issues posed...."  The entire program costs only $65.

Downstate, in Springfield the same day, try Corporate Legal Ethics.  But there will be no mention of the city's "Fissionator 1952 Slow-Fission Reactor, [which] is poor and badly maintained, largely due to owner Montgomery Burns' miserliness," and raises critical ethics issues for corporate deciders like Waylon Smithers, Jr., shown right all happy before the backdating scandal and his investing some of Mr. Burns' fortune into subprime paper.  Other than that lapse, the program seems fine, offers 4 hours, and is very  affordable.

Neither Illinois program covers the ethics of leaving a kid alone at home while doing a Winona Ryder at the local Kohl's, but Mike thinks that's problematic nonetheless.

[Alan Childress]

ABA Offers Web/Phone CLE on June 4: "Ethical Issues in E-Discovery"

Counting as 1.5 ethics hours or more, and accessible remotely, the ABA course in Ethical Issues in E-Discovery (including Rule 26(f) conferences and using third-party vendors) is set for Wed., June 4, 2008, starting noon eastern time.  [Alan Childress]

'Ethics of Email' CLE Offered by D.C. Bar on June 11

Speaking of metadata disasters, the District of Columbia Bar will hold a 2-hour ethics program about emails on Wed. evening, June 11, 2008 (scroll down to 6/11). Topics include  confidentiality, metadata scrubbing, document retention, and  outsourcing.  [Alan Childress]