Time Is Running Out
June 2008
June 18
Tick tock tick tock …
Hear that? It’s the dreaded CLE clock, ticking down faster than the one used for bar exams. The deadline is near for those of you with a last name beginning with A through M. By July 1 you need to have completed 20 hours of continuing legal education credits or …
Do we know what will happen for those who fail? Will they be scolded, disbarred, beaten, or — worse yet — forced to watch old Bears highlights when Bob Thomas was a mere kicker?
Lawyers are terrified. There is a deadline and we don’t have our favorite weapon to use: a motion to continue.
The daily phrases of our practice — ”Move to continue,” ”kick it,” ”ask for more time,” and the always-popular ”get a new date” (formerly reserved for chubby prom guests) — won’t work. Sad, but our favorite motion is unavailable.
Lawyers all over the state are in near panic. The thousands who haven’t even started their CLE work may seek asylum in Canada. Others — the daring ones — may chance it and walk into a courtroom July 1 without having completed their 20 hours. At that point, who knows? It could get bloody.
Let’s review the rules.
Supreme Court Rule 794 (a): 20 hours of CLE during the initial two-year reporting period as determined on the basis of the lawyer’s last name, ending on June 30 of either 2008 or 2009. It goes up to 24 and 30 hours over the subsequent two-year reporting periods.
Rule 794 (d): 4 hours of ”professional responsibility” education, defined as professionalism, diversity, mental illness and addiction, civility, or legal ethics. Social ethics and illegal ethics won’t count.
If your last name begins with the letters A through M, your CLE work must be done by the end of this month.
Daley Center rumors have it that all the N’s are getting together for a party June 29 to laugh at the rest of us.
But not so fast. There is, thankfully, a grace period. Attorneys are supposed to report their compliance on a certification form or online, by July 31. The MCLE certification requires that the attorney state whether she (1) has complied with CLE requirements; (2) has not complied; or (3) is exempt.
But Rule 796(b) has come to the rescue. That allows a grace period, and specifically states that attorneys shall be given 61 additional days from the original certification due date to comply. That means Sept. 30.
Still, not a lot of time. So, for all those last-minute shoppers who haven’t started, what should you do to get the credit and avoid being the laughingstock of your profession?
Here are a few suggestions.
If you belong to a bar association, that’s a good start. The ISBA has a CLE ‘’store.” Isn’t that nice of them to open a store for us? The ISBA offers its members CLE opportunities through FastCLE.com, which ”features instant online access to courses to earn MCLE credit in Illinois.” You can get DVDs, Audio CDs, video CD-ROMs, and online delivery, ‘’so you can earn MCLE credit on your terms.” www.isba.org.
Members of the CBA can opt for CLE Advantage, the $125-per-year program that allows participants to attend most afternoon seminars and the ability to check out CLE DVDs from the CBA Legal Bookstore at no extra charge. The ABA also offers an abundance of CLE courses to its members.
IICLE.com offers live programs via teleconference and also recorded programs online. ”MCLE credits may also be earned by watching IICLE DVDs of programs or listening to IICLE audio CDs.” It also states that when you purchase these DVDs or CDs, IICLE will issue an affidavit of compliance. They obviously know that no one would ever buy it and not watch it.
There are tons of private providers. Law.com and Lawline.com are now offering what they call an ”Illinois CLE Bundle Package” of 20 credits for the low, low price of $199. And if you order now, you’ll also get the Ronco Steamer. But that’s not all, call within 24 hours and they’ll throw in Ann Murray’s Greatest Hits.
You may just kick back and wait for someone to call you.
I received one of those calls last week. ”Hi, Mr. Heilmann, we’re calling about your CLE credits to date.”
That sent a chill down my spine. Who is this? What do they know? I’ve completed my credits. Has there been an audit? Did I take the wrong class? Why did that instructor lie and say he was certified? Oh, the humanity!
The message continued, ”We can help you get these completed by the June 30 deadline.” What? How?
Only then did they identify the company name and say, ‘’so if you have not completed your credits, we can provide this service and are an approved CLE provider.” Whew.
Maybe you’ll get a call. Or perhaps you’ll join a bar association, if you haven’t already. But you do have a grace period that lasts the next few months.
It gives new meaning to ”what I did on my summer vacation.” dheilmann@clausen.com
