Faith, the Kardashians, and Free CLE.

Certain things will remain eternal mysteries to me. Take, for instance, the tension between free will, predestination and an omniscient God — concerns that first troubled me as a parochial school boy.

My smart mouth annoyed the nuns no end not least when I posed the conundrum of our supposed unfettered will versus God’s infallible foreknowledge.

In religion class, I raised my hand and asked Sister Estelle, “If God knows and sees everything, including what we’re going to do — how is it we’re supposed to have free will?”

Sister Estelle’s answer was “To have faith,” which of course, was as much an explanation as J. M. Barrie in Peter Pan explaining that “All the world is made of faith, and trust, and pixie dust.”

Not till much later did I find infinitely more solace and satisfaction from Alexander Jablokov’s pithy “The road to truth is long, and lined the entire way with annoying bastards.”

Speaking of which, I will continue scratching my furry head over people’s fascination with all things Kardashian, especially the recent tabloid headlines that the congenitally protuberant but now excusably pregnant Kim is allegedly tipping the scales at 205 plus lbs. Why is this news? Better yet, “Who cares?’

Of considerably greater interest has always been Kardashian paterfamilias and O.J. Simpson attorney, the late Robert Kardashian and the answer to the question, “What was Robert Kardashian carrying in that bulging Louis Vitton garment bag?” Hmmm, what’s the more substantive Kardashian inquiry? Binging on sweets or bloody clothes and a knife? Also see “Background Facts on O.J. Simpson Case . . . .”

FREE CLE.

“The best things in life make you sweaty.” - Edgar Allan Poe

Fortunately, not all life is a mystery. We don’t have to worry our pointy, pretty little heads, for example, over one thing and that’s that I will continue posting on FREE CLE.

The latest roundup follows:

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Downloadable Webinars – Upchurch Watson White & Max

A dozen complimentary CLE programs on alternative dispute resolution for Florida CLE Credit.  Presented by Upchurch, Watson, White & Max, a Florida and Alabama based professional association of mediators.

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Practising Law Insitute (PLI)

Violence Against Women Act 2013

April 29, 2013, 1-2pm ET

Violence Against Women Act 2013 (Audio-only)

• The history of VAWA
• Expanded protections under VAWA 2013
• Immigration Provisions of VAWA 2013

Supreme Court’s 2012 Blockbuster Term: Review of  Major Cases -

(Audio-only)

May 2, 2013, 1:00 pm – 2:00 pm (E.D.T.)

Dean and law professor Erwin Chemerinsky reviews the major cases from the October Term 2012 docket, including:

 

• Maryland v. King
• Fisher v. University of Texas, Austin
• Shelby County, Alabama v. Holder
• Hollingsworth v. Perry
• United States v. Windsor
• Kiobel v. Royal Dutch Petroleum

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Courtesy of a tip from a Wisconsin lawyer friend who earned 3 continuing legal education credit hours for the following: “Eichmann Prosecutor Interview: A Conversation with Justice Gabriel Bach, Senior Prosecutor in the Adolf Eichmann Trial.”

Eichmann Prosecutor Interview

Frank Tuerkheimer

Law Professor Emeritus

University of Wisconsin

Wisconsin lawyers will likely have to submit a request for CLE credit via CLE Form 2 – Wisconsin Court System.

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Webinar – Attorney Protective

Title:	Great Procedures to Reduce Risk
Date:	Wednesday, May 22, 2013
Time:	1:00 PM – 2:00 PM EST

Reserve your Webinar seat now at:

https://www1.gotomeeting.com/register/436025096

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ARDC, “Illinois Attorney Registration & Disciplinary Commission”

• New Trends in Lawyer Regulation: Illinois (Part I)  Recorded Webinar (posted March 15, 2013) (1 Hr. MCLE/PCLE Credit in Illinois) CLICK HERE
  

• New Trends in Lawyer Regulation: National (Part II)  Recorded Webinar (posted March 15, 2013) (1 Hr. MCLE/PCLE Credit in Illinois) CLICK HERE

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• The Lawyers Guide to Technology CLE Course - Online Webinar (1:04:37)
• 1.2 Credits (General)

“This free CLE course will give you the ability to streamline your office technology, increase your billable hours and increase firm productivity overall.”

Download Rekall Course Materials (PDF)

• The Ethics Behind Client Data Security – Online Webinar (1:16:28)
• 1.5 Credit (Ethics\Professionalism Or General)

“This free CLE course gives you all the successful technologies that you need to work with in order to fulfill your ethical obligation to your clients, your colleagues, and the court. We explain the relationship between technology and ethics and show you ethical technology solutions and less ethical options for you law firm, we also explain possible consequences when working with less ethical technologies and client data information.”

Download Rekall Course Materials (PDF)

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Photo Credits: “Edgar Allan Poe Pop Art, ” by Chelsea Daniele at Flickr via Creative Commons-license requiring attribution;”How many nuns does it take to change a light bulb?” by kevin dooley at Flickr via Creative Commons-license requiring attribution; “Nuremberg Trials,” Wikipedia Commons, public domain.

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State bar cash cow? Not if CLE is Free.

I once asked, “Who’s making money from MCLE?” but, of course, I already knew the answer — mostly, it’s your friendly state bar. For many state bars, including Arizona’s, continuing legal education (CLE) is a cash cow.

For instance, according to its most recent Annual Report, the Arizona Bar grossed $2,151,368 in revenue from continuing legal education, which after cost-allocating its miscellaneous staff, meals and facilities’ expenses, amounted to $733,208 buckaroo bucks of CLE revenue.

Any wonder, then, that when the AZ Bar does serve up a free webinar — like the upcoming February 12, 2013, “It Just Makes Cents: Ethical Fee Agreements,” — there’s no CLE credit given?

Mucho dinero.

Or take the “Show-Me” folks at the Missouri State Bar. According to the Missouri Bar Annual Report 2011/2012, of the total $3,797,902 in non-enrollment fee receipts, CLE contributed a robust 75% or $2,848,426 of the total.* [But see the asked-for clarification below from the folks at the Missouri Bar]. And in Washington State, WSBA-CLE’s fund balance as of September 30, 2011 was a cool $1,351,465.

Indeed, so lucrative is the CLE revenue stream that some bars go out of their way to protect their turfs and to disincentivize lawyer attendance at non-bar sponsored programs.

In Arizona, for example, irrespective of the writing, editing and research hours that may actually be expended, the bar arbitrarily limits CLE to only 2 credit hours “for each 3,000 words of original material written.”

And in Arkansas and Oklahoma, audio-only live webcasts are not approved for credit. Meanwhile, Indiana imposes a 6 credit limit per year on distance education courses while the Alabama State Bar not only limits lawyers to 6 hours of online participatory CLE but also charges its lawyers a $25 processing fee just to apply for CLE course credit.

But live is better.

Other state bars also limit the number of online courses that can be taken for credit, “claiming live CLE is better.”

In November 2011, the Virginia Bar began requiring “a minimum hourly requirement for courses which provide simultaneous, live interactivity,”  or said another way, active Virginia lawyers are now required “to attend a minimum of four (4.0) credit hours of live interactive programming.”

Blogging about the Virginia Bar’s new requirement at Civilian’s Guide to Lawyers (the Blog), lawyer John Toothman posted, “If it weren’t for mandatory CLE, most bars would be broke.  So the Virginia Bar has hatched some excuses to leverage its control over lawyers and CLE in a vain attempt to save its live conference cash cow.”

Not milked dry.

Virginia notwithstanding, the good news is that most lawyers can still get CLE credit for online programs. Better yet, they can still get CLE credit for FREE — instead of getting milked dry by expensive live, video or webcast programs of inconsistent quality. And the reason any of this matters is that when lawyers — especially new ones, are so hard pressed to pay back exorbitant student loans they’re the last ones to afford hundreds of dollars a year in CLE fees on top of hundreds of dollars in annual bar dues.

Below is the latest round-up of FREE ONLINE CLE. The usual caveats about content quality, continued availability and jurisdictional approval apply.

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Practising Law Institute

PLI: Seminars – Update on CA Penal Code 1170.9 for Veterans ..

February 12, 2013

Item# 46519

Format:  Webcast

Free
Pre-Register

(1) Hour CLE Credit

“Learn about the restorative relief now available to veterans under subdivision (h) of the California Penal Code 1170.9, effective as of January 1, 2013!”

Representing the Pro Bono Client: Effective Written Advocacy

March 7, 2013

Item# 43292

Format:  Webcast

Free
Pre-Register

(1) Hour CLE Credit

“This program will teach new attorneys and seasoned professionals effective writing techniques to assist pro bono clients with a variety of legal issues.  Learn the tools to draft concise complaints, declarations and briefs to help your pro bono clients assert their legal rights and win their cases!”

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Clifford Law Offices

2013 Webinar: “Ethics of Witness Preparation for Deposition and Trial” – February 21, 2013

(2) hours CLE Professional Responsibility Credit

Illinois Commission on Professionalism

CLICK HERE TO REGISTER

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X1 Discovery

RECORDED WEBINAR

Social Media Ethics: Attorneys’ Affirmative Duty to Address Social Media Evidence (60 min) 1 hour CLE webinar.

http://www.x1discovery.com/video_webinar_duty_to_address_request.html

X1 Social Discovery Webinar with LexisNexis

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Steptoe & Johnson LLP

Food Labeling: What You Can Say, What You Must Say, and How to Defend It

(A Steptoe-Sponsored Event)
Complimentary webinar on food labeling, February 21, 2013

CLE credit pending: AZ, CA, IL, NY, and VA.

Click here to register

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Lexis Nexis

Whistleblower Update 2013

Complimentary accredited CLE webinar: February 13, 2013

Whistleblower webinar | HB Litigation Conferences

Register Now!

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* Missouri Bar Media Relations Director Farrah Fite has asked I add the following clarification about the Missouri Bar’s CLE receipts cited in this post, which I am happy to oblige here: “While the gross receipts information in our annual report is correct, your post does not account for the department’s expenditures which are outlined in the neighboring graph (http://www.mobar.org/uploadedFiles/Home/Publications/Annual_Report/2011-2012/full.pdf). I would appreciate it if you would update your blog post to reflect the full budget picture which demonstrates the Missouri Bar’s CLE programs are not a “cash cow.” In fact, in 2011 the expenditures outweighed receipts by $219,773.75.”

There’s an old joke that lawyers go to law school because they’re not good at math. But before I was a lawyer, I was a business manager. So here are some facts and my opinionated inferences from the Missouri Bar’s graph data.

According to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), the definition of gross receipts is “the total revenue a company or organization receives during its annual accounting period before subtracting any costs or expenses.”

Per the graph of “Missouri Bar Total Disbursements,” i.e., money paid out (expenses) — the Missouri Bar allocated 33% of its total disbursements of $9,250,976 to “Continuing Legal Education” plus an additional 3% of the total disbursements or $277,526 to something else called “Minimum Continuing Legal Education.” But all along, $2,848,426 simply stated gross receipts.

As for expenses, 36% of $9,250,976 comes to $3,330,215 — a whopping expense number which when subtracted from CLE gross receipts of $2,848,426 does indeed suggest the Bar is ‘in the red.’

But as the saying goes, the devil’s in the details — which there’s a paucity of here, particularly when the Missouri Bar shows a scant 9% allocation to “Administration,” most likely, employee overhead.

Moreover, the Missouri Bar scatters disbursements across 17 expense categories. But none even comes close to the 36% allocated to CLE.

However, all I can infer from my own business experience and from virtually every employer cost data point concerning employee compensation, the cost of payroll is the single largest line item on a P & L. Employee compensation can average from an extremely well-run business low of 20% to well over 40%.

With respect to non-profits, one survey summarized by The NonProfit Times, similarly shows that “38 percent of nonprofits’ operating budgets were spent on total cash compensation costs . . . and for most nonprofits, compensation costs comprised at least a third of their operating budget.”

But at the Missouri Bar where 2011 bar enrollment and non-enrollment receipts and fees total $8,511,670 — counterintuitively, CLE and not employee compensation accounts for over a third of total disbursements. And when disbursements of $9,250,876 exceed fees and receipts by $739,206, CLE’s got a lot of water to carry.

Photo Credits:”Toe Tag,” by Dep. Garcia at Wikipedia Commons under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 License; “Neanderthal,” by Hamed Saber, at Flickr via Creative Content-license requiring attribution.

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10 things to do before Apocalypse Friday — besides completing last-minute FREE CLE.

Can the Chinese be wrong? Chinese authorities are arresting dozens for spreading Mayan apocalypse rumors. Maybe they’re on to something?

Friday is Doomsday. And I’m not just talking about Friday’s release of Jack Reacher, the new action movie starring tiny Tom Cruise — supposedly 5’7″ in platform shoes — as 6’5,” 250lb Jack Reacher.

Not that fans of Lee Child’s Reacher[1] novels aren’t whining like it’s the end of the world over the worst movie miscasting since Chuck Connors played Geronimo or John Wayne was a Centurion at Golgotha.

With 2 days to go until December 21st, take a cue from the Chinese and pay attention to the Mayan Calendar or at least start “partying like it’s 1999.”

Or in either case, we should’ve already run through our list of 10 things to do before Apocalypse Friday. Granted, some of them may be contradictory.

What’s on your list?

1. Lose those last 20 lbs.

2. Cook and eat the Christmas Turkey.

3. Eat all the ‘kibbles and bits’ left in the house, including chips, candy, pretzels, nuts, ice cream and sodas.

4. Run your first and last marathon.

5. Complete your bucket list cruise to Bali.

6.  Read the books on your nightstand.

7. Open your Christmas presents.

8. Write your great American novel.

9. Move up your hair appointment.

10. Make that hole-in-one.

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And for lawyer readers still scrounging to find and finish calendar year-end continuing legal education (CLE) — here are a few more FREE CLE online programs to squeeze in before the world ends — and while taking care of the above-mentioned ten. What? Don’t worry, you still have time. After all, Joseph Heller in Catch-22 did say“live forever, or die in the attempt.” 

The usual C.Y.A. disclaimers apply.

FREE CLE

PLI: Seminars – “Bankruptcy, Mortgages and Foreclosure: What Bankruptcy Can and Can’t Do for Borrowers in Distress”

Format: On-Demand Web Programs

Full Seminar: 3 Hours (3.5 hours approved in NY)
Free
Launch Now

Tax, Credit and Other Financial Consequences of Foreclosures – PLI

Format: On-Demand Web Programs

Full Seminar: 3 Hours (3.5 hours approved in NY)
Free
Launch Now

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Lawline.com

Online CE – What’s that Worth? How to Value and Appraise Intellectual and Real Property

Agenda:
I. Appraiser Levels
II. Three Approaches to Value
III. Reviewing Reports
IV. Why Intellectual Property Valuation?
V. Value Constraints
VI. Valuation Methodologies and IP
VII. Case Studies

View This
Course (Free)

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[1] “He was huge, for a start. He was one of the largest men she had ever seen outside of the NFL. He was extremely tall, and extremely broad, and long-armed, and long-legged. The lawn chair was regular size, but it looked tiny under him. It was bent and crushed out of shape. His knuckles were nearly touching the ground. His neck was thick and his hands were the size of dinner plates.” A description of Jack Reacher, Lee Child, A Wanted Man (New York: Delacorte Press,2012) 155-6.

Photo Credits:”Beijing walking street at night,” by Christopher, Augapfel, at Flickr via Creative Commons-license requiring attribution; “Chuck Connors, Geronimo (1962); “John Wayne,” cameo appearance in George Stevens’ 1965 film “The Greatest Story Ever Told”;”Lose weight now” by Alan Cleaver at Flickr via Creative Commons-license requiring attribution; “060511 food,” by Dan4th at Flickr via Creative Commons-license requiring attribution; “Runners,” by Chris Waits, waitscm at Flickr via Creative Commons-license requiring attribution; “Hole in One,” by Hussain Khorsheed at Flickr via Creative Commons-license requiring attribution.

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Election night funnies . . . “nose puberty,” two kinds of people and oh yeah, FREE CLE.

O.K., it’s election night and while the bloviators and savants pontificate and prognosticate — why not talk about nose hair?

My silly irreverence now moves beyond loins to the hirsute. Assuredly, the carpet-bombing election commercials have done me in.

It’s like puberty that never stops. Ear puberty, nose puberty, knuckle puberty, you gotta be vigilant.” - George Costanza, Seinfeld, Season 8, Episode 21 – “The Muffin Tops”

And while I feel like I’ve been hiding the past two days from my television, thanks to old media newspapers, I have managed to stay abreast of the newsworthy while remaining largely free of the campaign advertising bombardment. Which is how I came across something out of the The Los Angeles Times – and while not earth-shattering stuff, is sufficiently offbeat to draw my professional, er . . . not necessarily my own hygienic interest. For those past their middle-earlies and beyond, it was the report, “A cure for Brad Pitt’s — or anyone’s — nose hair problem?”

The genteel, sufficiently grossed-out, may click off now — and link instead to more edifying stuff — like election night results and the state of the race and how “a hair’s breadth separates Barack Obama and Mitt Romney in the popular vote.”

Others, whether filled with self-loathing over the “Man versus Nosehair” battle or just electorally woebegone may want to keep reading, particularly if they suffer the heartbreaking accusation, “You’re ‘playing your nose hair like a banjo.’”

Now granted, last month there was another news item about hair,“Want a Promotion? Shave Your Head,” explaining a recent Wharton study that men with close-cropped or shaved heads were perceived as more masculine and dominant. The study was just hairless heads not hairless nostrils, though.

“Who loves ya, baby?”

And while the study concluded that bald pates were less attractive, this did not detract from the view that cue-ball men were seen as having greater leadership potential.

But as for the matter of snout strands and beak bristle, according to the Times story, the supposed cure may be worse than the problem. Hardly a radical cure, it’s just nose wax, of which one plucky guy who after remedying a whiskered proboscis with a dollop of warm wax cooling in each offending nostril that was then yanked out said, “I found it hugely effective, yet probably a little too painful for my taste. I swear it pulled a hair out of my brain.”

The alternatives to wax, though, aren’t any great shakes either. Besides those snazzily suggestive Christmas gift battery-operated nose clippers, there’s always electrolysis or a pair of Kathie Lee Gifford hair-plucking tweezers.

But for my money, the more civilized approach is that which was daintily practiced by LA Confidential’s nose-hair clipping Deputy D.A. Ellis Loew, whose line at the start of the scene I still regret not including as part of my contrarian list of not the greatest legal movie lines of all time.

All things considered, though, the nose wax may still compare favorably to the other cringe-inducing but funny approach undertaken by a screaming man in a Denver Bronco sweatshirt.

And finally before posting those promised updates concerning FREE online CLE, here’s a funny viral video antidote to election night results, which I just received, GREAT MOVIE CLICHES: “There are Two Kinds of People.”

Not mentioned, however, are the other two kinds of people in the world: those who run for office and those who don’t. And those with nose hair and those without.

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FREE ONLINE CLE

Free Webinar: Achieving Lawful Permanent Residency Through the Labor Certification Process

Presented by Austin Kennedy, Brick, Gentry, Bowers, Swartz & Levis, P.C.

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From the Miller Law Group:

November 28, 2012
10:00AM-11:00AM (Pacific Time)
Defending Class Actions, Part 2: Mediation and Settlement Techniques

November 29, 2012
10:00 AM-11:30AM (Pacific Time)

Pregnancy and Disability Leave in California: New Regulations for 2013 — What Employers Need to Know

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Presented by Olshan Frome Wolosky LLP

Olshan Webinar: “Classifying Workers – Who is an Employee and Who is an Independent Contractor?”

Click here to register and view the webinar for CLE credit.

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From the Practising Law Institute (PLI)

PLI: On-Demand Seminars – Subsidized Housing Basics 2012 (Free)

A comprehensive overview of the federal housing programs, recent changes, current trends, and issues facing practitioners.

Live Webcasts: California Guardianship Law 2012 (Free)

Nov. 7, 2012 Webcast

Representing Tenants in Unlawful Detainer Actions in San Francisco (Free)

Dec. 13, 2012 Webcast

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Note: The usual disclaimers apply concerning content quality, continued access of programs, and acceptability of continuing legal education credit in your jurisdiction.

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Photo Credits: “Relaxin’,” by jewell willettat Flickr via Creative Commons-licensed content requiring attribution; “BanjoPicker, Man with mutton chops playing the banjo,” via Wikipedia Commons, public domain; “Telly Savalas,” self-photographed, by Nicholas Savalas, at Wikipedia Commons, licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.5 Generic license.

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“Me love you long time”: More FREE CLE and an “Uneasy Rider” sues BMW.

Seems like a long time since I last posted links for free continuing legal education programs. But despite the lull, the number of daily blog views for “Free CLE” suggests a need still exists. What with young, underemployed lawyers impossibly servicing law school tuition debts approaching $200,000 – - who can afford $50 to $179 for an hour’s worth of CLE?

And besides, there’s still something to be said for belonging to the ranks of those making a thousand cuts upon the bloated bar association beast and its profligate CLE profit-center.

But I realize that not all readers of this blog are lawyers. Non card-carrying officers of the court don’t give a rat’s tush about CLE – - free or otherwise. They’ve got other fish to fry.

So before linking to all those boring-to-non-lawyer CLE freebies, here’s an item of interest for the non-CLE set. It’s another of those eye-rolling ‘real life is stranger than fiction’ lawsuits most people missed.

The never-ending predicament.

It involves a 52-year old Northern California man named Henry Wolf who recently filed suit in San Francisco Superior Court naming BMW of North America Motorcycles and after-market saddle maker Corbin-Pacific as defendants. He alleges that his 20-month priapism was “caused by the ridge-like seat on his motorcycle, negligently designed, manufactured and/or installed by defendants.”

Priapism is one of the possible side effects, i.e., “erections lasting more than 4 hours” that happy narrator warns men about during those annoying two bathtub naked couple commercials.

Speaking more plainly, it’s the erection-from-hell, a medical condition involving an unwanted, persistent, and usually painful erection that doesn’t go away.

Wolf claims his 1993 BMW motorcycle and its“ridge-like” seat gave him a “severe case of priapism” when he went for a 4-hour ride on May 1, 2010. The purportedly priapismic plaintiff seeks compensatory damages for lost wages, medical costs, and emotional distress.

I’m no prognosticator. But it may be that this case involving a 19-year old motorcycle and the oddest of alleged consequences is one of those that bears out the limits of that oft-repeated but – - what every lawyer knows – - misleading maxim that every wrong has a remedy.

“Me love you long time.”

Now I knew about skinny bike saddles, groin numbness and bicycle riding. But I gave up bike riding not because of pain in the crotch but because of pain in the back. However, Wolf’s cause of action is a new one on me. And with the puns and ribaldry so predictably obvious, I don’t need to go there.

But what I will say about the Courthouse News Service report, is that it unaccountably reminded me of a golfing buddy’s favorite movie quote, “Me love you long time,” the unforgettable line from “Full Metal Jacket.”

FREE CLE

And with that memorable line as my segue, here’s some “love you long time” of a different kind, web links to the following Free CLE programs.

NOTE: The usual disclaimers about continued availability, quality and local jurisdiction approval apply. Some providers may require registration to access their free programs.

Unlike Arizona where providers and programs are not approved or accredited by the state bar, other jurisdictions may require you to request approval of CLE Activity via a CLE Form. Also see Tim Baran’s take on approval confusion at “New State-By-State Guide: CLE Course Accreditation Forms.”

But kudos to Arizona for Rule 45, Ariz. R. Sup. Ct. and for MCLE Regulations that allow attorneys to evaluate their own CLE activities “based on the guidelines set forth in the Regulations, and report their activities by affidavit.”

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MicroLaw’s Latest CLE Materials Downloads

http://www.microlaw.com/cle-downloads.html

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LearnOutLoud.com offers 10 comprehensive Law Courses from “Justice: What’s The Right Thing To Do?” to “Religion & Law: Civil War to Present.”

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Litigation Podcast: Tips & Tactics for the Practicing Trial Lawyer

56 programs from “Spoliation of Electronic Evidence: A Judicial Boiling Point?” to “Managing Privilege.”

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ABA Litigation podcast: Seventh Circuit Judge Richard A. Posner shares his thoughts on effective appellate brief writing. Audio via this link (8.53MB mp3 audio file).

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Nine free hours of California approved CLE courtesy of Ernest Brown: Smith Currie, Construction Law Firm, Attorneys. (CLE credit approval pending in other jurisdictions).

California Infrastructure Projects

http://constructionlawyers.com/CM/Custom/Book.htm

(This link was previously provided by a blog post commenter).

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“The Future of Arbitration and the World of Class Action Litigation”

Via The Federalist Society. Also check out their extensive list of other Practice Groups Podcasts.

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The Network of Trial Law Firms – Online CLE Center

Scores of Free CLE offerings from “Lessons from “The Office”: Employment Law Update” to “Ethics: Alternative Fee Arrangements.”

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Although intended for court staff, some of these legal education offerings may be of general interest to lawyers. The colleague who provided this tip was presumably successful in getting CLE credit. And why not? Lawyers, after all, are also deemed ‘officers of the court.’

COJET Classroom – Arizona Judicial Branch including Capital Case Litigation classes at the court’s Video Center. Also see Curriculum on the Web.

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Credits: “Riding a bicycle improperly can ruin” by feastoffun.com at Flickr via Creative Commons-licensed content for noncommercial use requiring attribution and share alike distribution.

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No pepper-spray either with Free Elder Law Webinars for CLE credit.

Additional year-end CLE possibilities are provided below for the remaining procrastinators still short of year-end continuing legal education credit hours.

I picked up 1.5 credit hours this week and didn’t have to risk pepper spray-by-shopper amongst the holiday crowds. I attended the Webinar, “Guardian Accountability and Monitoring: Where Do We Stand?” presented under the auspices of the National Consumer Law Center’s (NCLC) National Elder Rights Training Project for the National Resource Center.

The program was well done and the presenters knowledgeable, including Jerry W. Hammond & Associates), Sally Hurme (AARP), Naomi Karp (Consumer Financial Protection Bureau – Office of Older Americans), and Erica Wood (ABA Commission on Law and Aging). See Presentations Recording

Additional National Elder Rights Training Project Webinars can be found at the NCLC website at: Webinars | Conferences & Training | NCLC

http://www.nclc.org/conferences-training/national-elder-rights-training-project.html

But also note you’ll need to submit such programs to your jurisdiction for CLE credit approval. For example, for Nevada credit, I used Form 2 available at the following link to the Nevada Board of Continuing Legal Education.

And like a broken record (how is that for a dated reference?), don’t fault me if your state bar kaboshes your approval request or if you don’t like the content or the presenters or if a link gets broken or just otherwise – - – you’re an angry sourpuss because you got up on the wrong side of the bed this morning.

[NCLC also states the following on its website: “Other webinar series also include topics focused on auto fraud and domestic violence survivors.  Webinars that are not part of an on-going series can be found at other webinars.”  http://www.nclc.org/conferences-training/webinars.html

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UC Irvine’s School of Medicine is offering a free online Webinar on Monday, December 12, 2011: “Stopping Elder Financial Abuse: Promising Practices and How to Bring Them to Your Community.” It is supported by the Archstone Foundation. The Presenters are: Julie Schoen, Esq. and Shawna Reeves, MSW. The Webinar is hosted by the Center of Excellence on Elder Abuse & Neglect at UC Irvine.

The registration link is at
http://centeronelderabuse.adobeconnect.com/e7dw0iftmwe/event/registration.html

From their website: “UC Irvine’s Center of Excellence on Elder Abuse and Neglect is committed to eliminating abuse of the elderly. Established with a grant from the Archstone Foundation, the Center of Excellence on Elder Abuse and Neglect is part of the School of Medicine’s Program in Geriatrics.”

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Free legal malpractice prevention CLE.

Here’s that word we like again, “Free,” as in free continuing legal education. With news today about yet another ticked-off financially struggling law school alum, it’s time to rearrange the stuff collected in the ‘goodie closet’ and share some more free CLE. As for that disgruntled law school graduate, see “A Recent Law Grad’s Attempt at Revenge on His Law School.”

But speaking of going to law school, I still don’t get why young people continue to enroll. Maybe it’s because they no longer read newspapers and news magazines or follow the news or pay attention to current events. See, for instance, “Law grads take their job frustrations to court” – Fortune Management.

Or maybe it’s just because of all those stupid television lawyer shows that bear as much resemblance to the real practice of law as a hamster does to a horse or a jalapeño does to a bon-bon.

I mean has anyone been paying attention to the Student Loan Bubble and how U.S. college loan debt now exceeds what Americans owe on their credit cards? It’s like the housing bubble deja vu. See“$1 trillion in student loan debt sparks furor.”

As a matter of fact, last month, two clueless buddies proudly told me their daughters were now attending law school. I restrained myself – - – for once. I didn’t have the heart to burst any more bubbles that month – - – not when they’re both astride some humongous student loan bubbles.

So in my ongoing sideline quest to help the penuriously besieged save a few bucks so they can service all those past-due student loans, below find links to more free CLE but with a bent this time toward legal malpractice prevention.

And as always, I make no warranty on content quality, continued availability or whether or not your jurisdiction won’t blow off your attempt to cop a freebie’s worth of mandatory continuing legal education credit.

Intellectual Property Risk Management

One hour of ethics credit for dipping yourself into what’s “acceptable and ethical conduct in patent and trademark prosecution before the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), conflicts of interest and potential resultant malpractice charges.”

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Webinar – Attorney Protective

~ Ethical and Early Resolution of Errors – Best Practices for Ohio Attorneys, Webinar on October 27, 2011

~ Intake Procedures – Unleash Your Inner Detective, Webinar on November 10, 2011

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Free Online CLE Courses | lexvid.com

Substance Abuse: a Clinical & Ethical Perspective

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Malpractice Prevention – Microlaw, Ethics Topics, Data Backup

CYA (Covering Your Assets): One Day Data Backup Will Save Your Law Practice!

(Author: Ross Kodner) (23 page monograph from Oct/Nov. 2005 Law Office Computing)

How NOT to Commit Malpractice With Your Computer

(Presenter: Ross Kodner) (Indiana Bar Solo & Small Firm Conference, June 2006)

Minimizing Malpractice Risks with Practice Management Systems

(Presenter: Ross Kodner) (From LegalTech New York, February 2005)

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Legal profession and ethics at U. Akron Joseph G. Miller and William C. Becker Center for Professional Responsibility, Distinguished Lecturer Series on Journalism and the Law featuring Adam Liptak of the “New York Times” on “Covering the Roberts Court in the Obama Era: A Reporter’s Reflections.” One hour CLE credit and to access the lecture, go to the  center’s website.

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Louisiana Legal Ethics

Ironically, the program’s not free in Louisiana. It’s like smelling and tasting the steak for free but it costing you $$$ to digest.

Or in other words, you can watch the CLE program for free but it’s $49 to obtain MCLE credit. But if you’re in another jurisdiction that doesn’t nick you for CLE credit obtained from another state bar, then you’ve got it made.

“Paperless 102: Working with PDFs, CaseMap and Mindmanager.”

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Miscellaneous CLE:

Talk about a much-needed albeit law school-sponsored self-serving program (see college loan comments supra):

“CLE: Student Loans: Repayment Options, Collections and Borrower Rights.”

 

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“Why buy the cow?” More online Free CLE.

Why buy the cow when you can get all the free CLE you want? OK, it’s a misapplied idiomatic expression, but you get the idea. It’s dumb to pay for continuing legal education when you can get it for free.

And then there’s this, the quality of most CLE being what it is, CLE long ago became commoditized. So it’s really all about meeting mandatory requirements at the lowest price. “Free” always trumps even the lowest price.

Since it’s been a while since I last posted links to free online CLE, I thought I’d provide a few updates now.

Fiscal year reporting types already blew their deadlines if they didn’t satisfy their CLE requirements, but there’s no time like the present to rewind the clock. For others still working their year-end calendar year requirements, now’s also a good time to pick up some CLE freebies.

The usual caveats apply on content quality, continued availability, and whether your jurisdiction will accept the programs for credit. And no endorsement is implied, either.

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Rocket Matters

http://legalproductivity.rocketmatter.com/legal-productivity-webinar-series/

Three Low-Cost Ways to Grow Your Practice

Ethical Cloud Computing For Legal Professionals

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Practicing Law Institute (PLI)

Defending Unlawful Detainers: Training Pro Bono Attorneys to Help Families Avoid Homelessness 2010

                                                                                                                                                             Ethical Issues in Pro Bono Representation 2010

~Advocating for Veterans – the Basics on Benefits, Discharge Upgrades and Cultural Competency 2011

~Debt Ceiling Debate Raises Legal, Regulatory and Financial Issues 2011 (Free Audio-only)

~Diversity in Law Practice 2011: Legal Update, Inclusion Strategies, and Work-Life Balance

~Mortgage Servicing Abuses and Fair Housing

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The TRIAL.COM Online CLE Center — 100% Free CLE

http://www.trial.com/cle/index.html

Sample programs include the following, although most are .25 and .50 hours. Beware, though, some jurisdictions set minimums and won’t grant credit for any program less than a half hour.

YOU CAN’T SAY OR WRITE THAT TO OR ABOUT A JUDGE: FREE SPEECH OR SANCTIONS?

PANEL DISCUSSION: TRIAL LAWYERS FACING THE NEW DECADE

PANEL DISCUSSION: SUCCESSFULLY NAVIGATING NATIONAL AND GLOBAL E-DISCOVERY DISPUTES

WHAT’S YOUR STORY? IT’S SIMPLY THE KEY TO WINNING YOUR CASE

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Rutter Online

http://www.rutteronline.com/

Persuasive Speaking Skills 2009 (One Hour Participatory Credit)

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Illinois Attorney Registration & Disciplinary Commission

https://www.iardc.org/CLESeminars.html

Free CLE Webcasts

~ “The Ethical Requirements of Handling Trust Funds Under Rule 1.15 and IOLTA Basics,” (1 Hr. MCLE/PCLE Credit in Illinois) 

Click here

~” Law Practice Transitions: The Ethical Obligations When Selling, Closing or Leaving a Law Practice,” (2 Hrs. MCLE/PCLE Credit in Illinois) 

Click here

~”Professional Responsibility Roundtable: A Discussion of the New Lawyer Ethics Rules in Illinois,”  (2 Hrs. MCLE/PCLE Credit in Illinois)

Click here

~”What the New Rules of Professional Conduct Will Mean for Your Practice,” (2 Hrs. MCLE/PCLE Credit in Illinois)

Click here

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Florida State Bar

The Florida Bar – Online CLE and Seminar Catalog – LegalSpan

http://www.legalspan.com/TFB/catalog.asp?CategoryID=20091229080212195213&UGUID=&sort=price

~ “ABC’s of Starting and Managing Your Law Practice”

~ “Building Business in a Down Economy”

~ “Foreclosure Litigation in Florida”

~ “Maintaining a TRUSTworthy Trust Account”

~ “ABC’s of Starting and Managing Your Law Practice”

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June 30th CLE procrastinators: Free CLE on Chapter 7 BK.

Unlike Punxsutawney Phil who sees his shadow and gets 6 more weeks of winter, when June 30th rolls around for fiscal year compliance CLE procrastinators, there’s no 6-week extension whether they see their shadow or not.

So to help those “I’ll do it mañana“ types, the Practising Law Institute (PLI) has available on its site, “On-Demand Seminars – The Essential Components of a Chapter 7″ – PLI.

Now, the usual caveats apply. I don’t warrant access, content quality or continued availability. And I also don’t control your jurisdiction so I can’t warrant that they will accept the program for CLE credit.

And for those still uninitiated in the ways of obtaining approval, most if not all jurisdictions allow for ad hoc credit for programs they haven’t sprinkled their holy water upon. The catch is that lawyers have to apply and in some instances, pay a fee or to stay with the same metaphor — tithe the church of the state bar.

I have blogged before about how to do this and even provided links and some information on those jurisdictions that expect lawyers to pay for the processing privilege to get unblessed CLE approved. See, for example, “More on Free CLE” and “General online learning can provide another creative way to free CLE.”

 

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Photo credit: Holy water by Kaihsu Tai under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported

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QUICK TAKE RUMINATIONS & FREE CLE “ETHICS OF CLOUD COMPUTING.”

I never worry about what to blog about. If anything, it’s the opposite. If I had the time, I would truly be the incontinent inscriber.

I just can’t keep up with all the ideas, all the ruminations running through my head. As a matter of fact, since college when I first read, recited, and memorized Keats, two lines in particular from one of my favorite poems,“When I have fears that I may cease to be,” have most inspired and stayed with me,

“When I have fears that I may cease to be

  Before my pen has glean’d my teeming brain,”

And so to put a lid for now on some of that “teeming,” here are a handful of “Quick Take Ruminations,”

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Quick Take #1 – Drug Court Tough Love. 

Glynn County, Georgia Superior Court Judge Amanda Williams has been catching a lot of grief along with unwelcome attention thanks to a recent report, “Very Tough Love,“ by Public Radio International’s (PRI). It was aired by PRI respected journalist Ira Glass last March. But the repercussions are ongoing, including according to media reports, death threats and calls to impeach and to remove Judge Williams from the bench. The judge, through her lawyer, has also done the unusual, issued a feisty response. See “Legal battle brewing over broadcast.”

Why the public brouhaha? Because according to her critics, the jurist has a different view of drug court. She’s accused of heavy-handedness and of being punitive rather than rehabilitative. It’s said that she’s violating the philosophical bases of drug court.

From the Glass’ report: “We hear the story of Lindsey Dills, who forges two checks on her parents’ checking account when she’s 17, one for $40 and one for $60, and ends up in drug court for five and a half years, including 14 months behind bars, and then she serves another five years after that—six months of it in Arrendale State Prison, the other four and a half on probation. The average drug court program in the U.S. lasts 15 months.

“But one main way that Judge Williams’ drug court is different from most is how punitive it is. Such long jail sentences are contrary to the philosophy of drug court, as well as the guidelines of the National Association of Drug Court Professionals. For violating drug court rules, Lindsey not only does jail terms of 51 days, 90 days and 104 days, Judge Williams sends her on what she calls an “indefinite sentence,” where she did not specify when Lindsey would get out.”

Also see Law.com: “Broadcast prompts threats and calls for judge’s ouster” and further background from “Coastal Viewpoint Continue Judge Williams’ Story.“

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A 40-50 Million Year-Old Cockroach.

Quick Take #2 – Cockroach Jargon
Business jargon is like the cockroach. The primordial cockroach is thought to be 350 million years old. It is nigh near indestructible. It cannot be killed.

And so it seems, stupid business jargon is likewise invincible. For example, there used to be a stupid piece of business jargon, “the low-hanging fruit,” which fortunately, has been mostly eradicated. If it’s seen or heard at all, like the cockroach in the basement, it’s mostly relegated poorly-lit spaces like those used by tired consultant hacks selling overpriced analytical obviousness.

But other jargon remains. I am still figuratively lighting candles to the saints that the same fate eventually happens to “At the end of the day”.

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Quick Take #3 – ABA needs a head exam.

Law.com via Karen Sloan and NLJ Home reports at “Irvine wins provisional accreditation, but La Verne loses ABA’s blessing,” that the ABA has approved three more law schools: UC Irvine, Irvine, California; the Charlotte School of Law, Charlotte, North Carolina; and something called Elon University School of Law, Greensboro, North Carolina. (I know “Alack” as in “Alack, I am afraid they have awaked, and ’tis not done.” – Macbeth, Act II, Scene II. I also know “Anon” as in “Anon, anon! Come, let’s away; the strangers all are gone.” – Romeo and Juliet, Act I, Scene V.  But I know not “Elon.” ).

And oh yeah, the ABA yanked the crown off the head of provisionally accredited University of La Verne, California Law School.

But the real question is that with a profligate number of lawyers, a bellyful of existing law schools, and an increasing manifestation of how “Legal Services Have Transformed Into Legal Commodities,” what is going on inside the collective head of the ABA? How many more law schools can the marketplace take?

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Quick Take #4 – “What is it about “No” that you don’t understand?”

I once worked for a boss whose dry wit and intelligence I much respected. He had the habit of carrying around in his suit coat pocket, a small card imprinted with the above-noted quotation. Every now and then, particularly, in the throes of a subordinate’s plaintive plea, he would smile sardonically and hand the whiner the card without saying anything more. “Priceless,” I thought.

On June 13, 2011, Michael Carrigan, an elected member of the Sparks, Nevada City Council, was figuratively handed that kind of a card by the U.S. Supreme Court in the case of “Nevada Comm’n on Ethics v. Carrigan,” 10–568.

Carrigan convinced the Nevada Supreme Court that the recusal provisions in Nevada’s Ethics in Government Law were unconstitutionally overbroad and violated his First Amendment free speech rights. The Nevada Commission on Ethics appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court.

But what Carrigan conveniently forgot was that he ‘can’t have his cake and eat it, too.’ He can’t aspire to sit on the city council but also expect to enjoy the identical free speech rights of the run-of-the-mill public citizen.

When he ran for city council to represent the interests of his constituents, the Court noted,“the legislative power thus committed is not personal to the legislator but belongs to the people.” His vote is not his own but “as trustee for his constituents, not as a prerogative of personal power.”

Moreover, the Court reiterated and reaffirmed the well-settled constitutionality of recusal rules, even citing Thomas Jefferson,

“Where the private interests of a member are concerned in a bill or question, he is to withdraw. And where such an interest has appeared, his voice [is]disallowed, even after a division. In a case so contrary not only to the laws of decency, but to the fundamental principles of the social compact, which denies to any man to be a judge in his own case, it is for the honor of the house that this rule, of immemorial observance, should be strictly adhered to.” A Manual of Parliamentary Practice for the Use of the Senate of the United States 31 (1801).

But Carrigan and his lawyers still don’t get it. The U.S. Supreme Court reversed the judgment of the Nevada Supreme Court and remanded the case “for further proceedings not inconsistent with this opinion.”

However, as quoted by a news account in the Reno-Gazette Journal, Carrigan still thinks he can revisit the Nevada statute’s purported vagueness, telling the paper, “From my point of view, they left the door open so we can still argue that the Nevada statute — specifically that catch-all ‘substantially similar’ provision — is unconstitutionally vague and that provision violates my First Amendment freedom of association with my supporters.” See “US Supreme Court upholds ethics law against Sparks …” – rgj.com

I doubt, though, that he will get anywhere with that expectation. I surmise the only “door left open” is the one for the hole in his argument. Someone send the councilman and his lawyers one of my boss’s little cards.

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Quick Take #5 -  FREE CLE – For fiscal reporting MCLE calendar types still hunting for ethics continuing legal education credit, look no further. Next Friday, June 24, 2011, courtesy of a tip from a colleague and via 4 Free CLE and provided by the Rimon Law Group at www.rimonlaw.com, there’s “The Ethics of Cloud Computing for Lawyers – Webinar (CLE Ethics Credit).

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