Free CLE for a tough economy.

According to the American Bar Association (ABA), 46 jurisdictions require practicing lawyers in their jurisdictions to complete mandatory Continuing Legal Education (CLE). See ABA-CLE | Summary of State MCLE Requirements.

State requirements vary. But one thing is certain, lawyers in those 46 states must be mindful of satisfying their jurisdiction’s CLE requirements, that is, if they want to keep practicing law there.

It was once naively thought that the advent of online, web-based CLE would lower CLE costs to lawyers. After all, once initial program setup costs are recovered, each incremental set of online eyeballs costs next to nothing. What a laugh! Why price something reasonably when you can overcharge and get away with it?

So what’s a thrifty and prudent lawyer to do, especially in this economy? Well, like Smokey Robinson once sang, “My mama told me, you’d better shop around.” And when you’re shopping around, nothing beats “FREE.”

Free CLE.

With the disclaimer that free doesn’t last forever, the last time I looked, the following were still available online. Best of all, there’s no qualifier, e.g., coupon cutting or required membership.

The ABA has the widest range of free or open access offerings. The complete list of open access CLE at the ABA is at http://www.abanet.org/cle/clenow/ but the following are illustrative.

Preventing Disciplinary Complaints: Advice from a Prosecutor and a Defense Lawyer

Fair Housing Laws and Seniors with Disabilities

Race and Gender Bias in Judicial Election and Selection

Legal Aftercare for the Domestic Violence Survivor

Contingent Fees: Access to the Court or Threat to Capitalism?

Another source is at IP Colloquium taught by UCLA Law Professor Doug Lichtman at http://www.ipcolloquium.com/current.html. See the following link, Intellectual Property Colloquium – Current Show.

Past programs at IP Colloquium include Intellectual Property Colloquium – Patent Reform: Damages and Can Content Survive Online? « Intellectual Property Colloquium

Although several years old, other free CLE programs, which were originally offered for Oregon and Washington, can be found at Free CLE.

Yet another source of gratis online CLE are professional liability insurance carriers. Some companies offer free CLE to their insured. Still others provide free CLE as inducements to prospective customers. For example, find 1.5 hours of ethics credit at Lawyers’ Mutual Insurance Company.

CLE benefits.

Varied and diverse CLE programs present lawyers with the opportunity to expose themselves to other practice areas. So even if a lawyer is not an intellectual property lawyer, the IP Colloquium lectures may be of interest outside their customary practice area. Or if you aren’t an elder law attorney, you may still welcome the chance to study this practice area, too, through programs available, for example, through The National Center on Elder Abuse, (NCEA). The NCEA has a webcast library available at http://www.ncea.aoa.gov/ncearoot/main_site/library/events_webcast/events_archive.aspx. Please note, though, that approval may be needed from your state bar to receive credit since the NCEA’s programs aren’t necessarily intended as continuing legal education. See additional Caveats below.

Not quite free.

While not quite free, nominally priced providers are readily found. Lower cost online providers seriously undercut the overpriced merchant. This includes not surprisingly, many state bar CLE departments along with the usual big name online suspects. So there’s absolutely no reason to pay $150 to $200 per hour for online CLE.

I don’t endorse any provider over another. Moreover, the following list is hardly exhaustive. With this said, a few of the discount providers are listed below:

www.cleonline.com

Online Continuing Legal Education for Attorneys – CLE | MCLE or http://www.attorneycredits.com/

lawline.com »

Caveats.

Always inquire, preferably beforehand, if a listed course is approved in your jurisdiction. If not, you’ll need to access the permission approval form available from your respective state bar. Nevada’s form is available at Nevada Board of Continuing Legal Education while information on Arizona’s requirements are at http://www.myazbar.org/CLE/cle_providers.cfm

Section and alumni deals.

Last, check CLE offerings through bar sections and law school alumni groups. Many of them offer programs that are either free or nominally priced. Examples include the following,

Legal Aid Center of Southern Nevada – Free CLE for Attorneys

Cornell Law School: Event Details

CLE Programs: Salmon P. Chase College of Law

James E. Rogers College of Law: Alumni and Giving

One last add on price and quality.

We’ve all attended dull, superficial and poorly-organized programs where presenters and their Powerpoint slides stuff 20 lbs. of information into 5 lb. sacks. Worse still are the half day seminars at $300 a pop with little or nothing of substantive value except for the “Certificate of Attendance” given out at the end.

Inexplicably, you get what you pay for doesn’t necessarily apply to CLE, especially the online programs. Price, then, is no determinant of quality. More often than not, you won’t get what you paid for.