Continuing Legal Education: Fail

It’s not that the idea was a bad one at its inception. After all, learning doesn’t end in law school, and the problem of lawyers failing to take the time or make the effort to stay atop changes in the law was very real.  It’s not that we didn’t have the books, but who had time to read them?

Yet CLE hasn’t panned out as well as expected.  For one thing, teaching is hard work. It requires preparation, research, more preparation and the ability to teach.  While most lawyers far prefer to be the teacher than the student, few are willing to put in the effort.  It’s so much easier to step up front and tell war stories or speechify your off-the-cuff thoughts on a subject about which you know nothing.  Plus, you get double credit to teach, no matter how awful you do.

In order to provide CLEs, you have to be a CLE provider, and bar associations signed up lickety-split. But bar associations are captives of their “officials,” those lawyers who lost the election for secretary of their sophomore class in high school and desperately need to make up for it by seeking positions that suck time and money from their practice while returning all the glory a plaque can bring.  And since they now hold the power, they’re the folks teaching CLEs. Because signing up for bar positions makes you a lawyer with something meaningful to share.

In the beginning, lawyers were a bit choosy as to which CLEs they attended. They hoped to get something out of it, and expected to actually learn something of value for their sawbuck (or two).  After a while, the content deteriorated. You can’t keep giving the same CLE, so fresh meat was needed. Not only to attract new paying attendees, but to pass muster with the bar honchos who had to approve CLE content.

The alternative are the paid providers, those CLE outfits that charge for the pleasure of satisfying the bar’s demand that you stay on top of your game.  They certainly had better reason to develop interesting and strong CLEs, as this was the business model and source of income. Throw lousy CLEs and you’re out of business.  Throw stupid CLEs and the content isn’t approved. 

Well, that was the idea, anyway.

Now this :















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- PBI: Bringing Excellence to CLE -

 





iPad for Legal Professionals


2 Part Program – Attend the morning, afternoon or all day!


Philadelphia – Mon., Aug. 27, 2012

PBI is the Pennsylvania Bar Institute, the continuing legal education arm of the Pennsylvania bar, “bringing excellence to CLE.”  The morning session is iPad basics:

Topics include:



  • Introduction to the iPad

  • Tour of the iPad

  • Getting Documents onto the iPad

  • A “Day in the Life” of an iPad-Savvy Attorney

  • The 10 “Must-Have” iPad Apps for Legal Professionals

  • Recommended Settings for the iPad

  • Printing from the iPad

The afternoon is where they get all advanced:



Topics include:



  • Legal Research on the iPad

  • Getting the Most Out of E-mail on the iPad

  • Delivering a Presentation from the iPad

  • Using the iPad in the Courtroom

  • Taking Notes on the iPad

  • 60 iPad Apps, Tips & Tricks in 60 Minutes

In other news, food.com posted the recipe for ice cubes, though  the reviews suggest that the recipe could use some improvement.   No slackers they, the PBI not only produces cutting edge CLEs, but has out-of-state faculty for it’s iPad show, making it well worth the 6 CLE credits bestowed upon lawyers for full day attendance:



Featured Speakers:


Brett Burney, Esquire, Burney Consultants, LLC, Cleveland, OH
Paul J. Unger, Esquire, Affinity Consulting Group, LLC, Columbus, OH


And if you were wondering, yes, the PBI offers discounts for judges to attend this CLE. 

There comes a time when we need to step back, take a look at how a good, if somewhat aspirational, idea has panned out, and admit it’s a failure.  Continuing legal education is an expense of time and money, and can be satisfied by playing with an iPad. It has failed.

This isn’t a commentary on shiny toys so beloved by tech early adopters. They already know how to use an iPad, anyway.  If it makes your life as a lawyer more convenient, that’s fabulous.  But this is so far afield from what CLE was meant to accomplish as to render it a farce, and yet lawyers are constrained by the rules to waste time and money to get their credits on such weighty topics.

The time has come to recognize that CLE has gone off the rails and either put it to a merciful death or go back to the drawing board.  There’s probably an app for that.

H/T  Max Kennerly
 

 

11 thoughts on “Continuing Legal Education: Fail

  1. Leo

    I got the PBI flyer for this in the mail and just laughed.

    I generally enjoy CLEs because 1) I get books to read; 2) I learn from more experiences practitioners; 3) coffee/lunch/snacks.

    But you’re right that many programs are now just jokes. I recently saw a PBI CLE called “Law and Literature.”

    Now that is a slackoisie CLE if ever I saw one.

  2. SHG

    There was once a time when there was no such thing as CLE. Then there was a time when people put serious effort into producing quality CLE. And now any garbage they think will make a buck constitutes CLE. 

  3. Alex Bunin

    New York was the worst. I remember getting the bar to approve seminars. It was form over substance every time.

  4. Blind Guy

    Blind Guy, who has actually rec’d awards for contributions to CLE and has done a couple with Greenfield has this to say: Are you shitting me?

  5. John David Galt

    CE requirements are rapidly being (or have already been) imposed on every profession that requires a license, not just lawyers by any means. I beg to doubt that most of it ever does anybody except the education providers any good.

    The reason CE is required, of course, is the same reason a license is required: not to protect the public, but to protect those already in the profession from competition by imposing time and cost burdens on those who want in. The more people manage to become licensed anyway, the more burdens the licensing board or club will see a need to impose.

  6. Catherine Mulcahey

    Dear Mr. Greenfield:

    PICKLE, the Palm Beach Institute for Continuing Knowledge in Legal Education, cordially invites you to participate as a featured speaker and panel member in our upcoming Continuing Legal Education program. We have applied to the Florida Bar for approval to offer 6 CLE credits for this course. Because of your outstanding reputation, we would be honored to have you present the session on criminal defense and participate in the panel discussion at the end of the day. A member of our staff will be contacting you shortly to discuss honoraria and scheduling.

    A summary of our proposed announcement follows:

    Microwave for Legal Professionals
    Palm Beach – Mon., Sept. 31, 2012
    Morning: Introduction & Microwave Basics
    Whether you’re new to the Microwave or you’ve been using it for years, you’ll learn so much from the morning session. You will take a quick tour of the Microwave and walk through a “day-in-the-life” of a Microwave-savvy attorney. The speakers will cover the “must-have” settings that should be on every legal professional’s Microwave and tackle important how-to’s on loading frozen food and leftovers.
    Topics include
    • Introduction to the microwave
    • Tour of the microwave
    • Getting food into the microwave
    • A “day in the life” of a microwave-savvy attorney
    • The 10 “must-have” microwaveable items for legal professionals
    • Recommended settings for the microwave
    Lunch will feature a selection of microwavable meals, entrées and desserts with a demonstration of microwaving for beginners.
    Afternoon: Advanced Microwave Topics
    Now that you’re familiar with the basics of the Microwave, it’s time to dig a little deeper.
    Topics include
    • Microwave personal injuries, wrongful deaths & 42 U.S.C. 1983 cases (Anderson v. Wilkinson)
    • The microwave in marital property and custody conflicts
    • Microwave considerations in bankruptcy, mortgage foreclosure and debtor-creditor law
    • Defending microwaving misdemeanors and food-related felonies
    • Panel discussion: Tinfoil hats: micro-phobia or sound security measure?

    We are looking forward to your participation.

  7. catherine mulcahey

    Unfortunately, Apple has refused to comment on rumors regarding development of the iGrill, and focus group have indicated that hardly any lawyers will admit that someone might know more about gas and charcoal grilling than they do.

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