Gina's CLE Blog

New Jersey Makes Changes to CLE Rules

The New Jersey Supreme Court passed several amendments to the Regulations of the Board of Continuing Legal Education on October 23, 2012. The rule changes are effective immediately. The Court also determined that the changes to 201:8 (alternative verifiable learning formats, detailed below) shall be applied retroactively. The remaining amendments shall be applied prospectively.

The amendments are:

• BCLE Reg 103:1 (j) - definition of credit hour for ethics courses
• BCLE Reg 103:1 (l) - definition of inactive member
• BCLE Reg 201:4 - reciprocity and New Jersey requirements
• BCLE Reg 201:6 - teaching CLE to non-lawyers
• BCLE Reg 201:8 - alternative verifiable learning formats - allowing for 100% alternative coursework in certain specific circumstances
• BCLE Reg 202:2 - fee charged for waiver applications
• BCLE Reg 202:3 - fee charged for extension of time applications
• BCLE Reg 302:4 - course announcement submission requirements for approved service providers
• BCLEReg 302:10 - addition of new certificatation specialty area
• BCLE Reg 402:1 - noncompliance and undue hardship
• BCLE Reg 402:2 - when noncompliance fees attach
• BCLE Reg 402:3 - effect of failure to comply

BCLE Reg 103:1 (j) - "credit hour" shall mean an increment of time of 50 minutes of instruction. No CLE credit will be awarded for any period of instruction of less than a credit hour, INCLUDING ETHICS CREDITS WHICH ALSO MUST BE A MINIMUM OF A TOTAL OF 50 MINUTES. (emphasis added)

BCLE Reg 103:1 (l) - "inactive member" shall mean a member of the NJ Bar on EXEMPT status as defined in Rule 1:28-2(b). (emphasis added)

BCLE Reg 201:4 - All active attorneys will receive 1:1 credit for courses approved as satisfying the continuing legal eduction requirements of any other jurisdiction, SO LONG AS THEY COMPLY WITH ANY COURSE ACCREDITATION RESTRICTIONS IN NEW JERSEY. (emphasis added)

BCLE Reg 201:6 - A lawyer who teaches an approved course designed principally to maintain or advance the professional competence of lawyers and/or expand an appreciation and understanding of ethical and professional responsibility of lawyers, AND/OR TEACH TO NON-LAWYERS is entitled to twice the credit hours authorized for that portion of the course taught by the lawyer claiming teaching credit. NO MORE THAN SIX TOTAL CREDITS OF CLE CAN BE OBTAINED IN ANY ONE COMPLIANCE PERIOD FOR PARTICIPATION IN MOOT COURT OR MOCK TRIAL EDUCATIONAL ACTIVITIES. (emphasis added)

BCLE Reg 201:8 - LAWYERS WHO RESIDE IN, WORK IN, AND ARE LICENSED IN A MANDATORY CLE JURISDICTION THAT ALLOWS FOR 100% OF CLE COURSES TO BE TAKEN THROUGH ALTERNATIVE VERIFIABLE LEARNING FORMATS SHALL, THROUGH RECIPROCITY, BE ABLE TO SATISFY THEIR CLE OBLIGATION IN NEW JERSEY THROUGH 100% ALTERNATIVE VERIFIABLE LEARNING FORMATS. (emphasis added) [NOTE: This amendment will be applied retroactively.]

BCLE Reg 202:2 - An application for a waiver shall be in writing addressed to the Board, WITH PAYMENT OF THE REQUISITE FEE, shall be certified as true under penalties of perjury, and at a minimum, set forth: the reason(s) the lawyer cannot comply with the minimum requirements of these regulations; the efforts the lawyer made to comply; and a plan for compliance during the waiver period or upon termination of the waiver period. (emphasis added)

BCLE Reg 202:3 - Upon a written and certified application, WITH PAYMENT OF THE REQUISITE FEE, and for good cause appearing, the Board, in its discretion, may extend the time of compliance for a lawyer upon such terms and under such conditions as the Board shall require. (emphasis added)

BCLE Reg 302:4 - Approved service providers also shall file with the Board, prior to the presentation of any CLE activity or course, BUT NO LATER THAN 30 DAYS AFTER THE PRESENTATION OF THE COURSE, an ONLINE COURSE announcement of such CLE activity that shall specify, AMONG OTHER THINGS, the areas of law covered in the activity or course and the credit hours claimed for the activity or course. (emphasis added)

BCLE Reg 302:10 - When a CLE activity or course has been accredited or the CLE activity or course is offered by an approved service provider, the provider shall set forth prominently in its brochures and/or registration materials the following: "This program has been approved by the Board of Continuing Legal Eduction of the Supreme Court of New Jersey for _____ hours of total CLE credit. Of these, _______qualify as hours of credit for ethics/professionalism, and ___________ qualify as hours of credit toward certification in civil trial law, criminal trial law, workers compensation law, MUNICIPAL COURT LAW, and/or matrimonial law. (emphasis added)

BCLE Reg 402:1 - Grace periods shall not be extended or renewed, UNLESS FOR GOOD CAUSE SHOWN. (emphasis added)

BCLE Reg 402:2 - Late fees were reduced for applications for waivers and extensions of time reduced from $50 to $25, for late compliance reporting and late completion of compliance with the CLE requirement from $150 to $50, and for failure to complete the CLE requirement from $150 to $100. The fee reductions are effectively immediately and shall be applied prospectively only.

BCLE Reg 402:3 - A lawyers who fails to comply in a timely manner with the CLE reporting requirement may be DEEMED administratively INELIGIBLE TO practice law in New Jersey. (emphasis added) The former language read: A lawyers who fails to comply in a timely manner with the CLE reporting requirement may be  administratively suspended from the practice of law in New Jersey.

I'm sure that many attorneys will be especially happy about the changes to 201:8 which allow many attorneys to fulfill their entire obligation online - especially those who live and work in New York and are licensed there. This rule change brings much more parity to the rules between New York and New Jersey.

ONE IMPORTANT NOTE ON THIS: New Jersey is requiring that attorneys, in order to use the 100% alternative verifiable learning format "exception", must reside in AND work in AND be licensed in a mandatory jurisdiction that allows for 100% of CLE to be taken through AVLF. All three conditions must be satisfied. If an attorney lives in New Jersey but works in and is licensed in New York, he or she would still have to take at least 1/2 of the requirement with live course credits. States that allow for 100% of credits to be taken with AVLF include: Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Florida, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Iowa, Kentucky, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Oregon, Rhode Island, Texas, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, Wisconsin, and Wyoming.

 

No Social Media Expert Here!

When I first began writing Gina's CLE Blog back in January of 2009, I really had no idea what I was doing. There. I said it. And on the internet so it will live forever.

Whenever I would get together with other professionals who work in the continuing education industry, we would commiserate about the challenges of juggling the rules, paperwork, customer service issues, and relationship building with regulators and even our own content creators, that come along with getting programs accredited. And most "outsiders" didn't understand what we did, much less the challenges we faced.

I was looking for a way to continue the conversations I was having with people in the CLEworld about the challenges of accreditation. And then someone suggested that I start a blog. While I'd certainly read other peoples' blogs, and even some from other experts in various areas of the legal industry, there really wasn't much out there focused on CLE, and certainly nothing focused on accrediting CLE.

"But is that because no one cares about accrediting CLE?," I thought? Not true!

I knew from the spirited and sometimes heated, but always engaging conversations I was already having that there was an audience. Not a large one. But I didn't care about the numbers. I wanted to share my knowledge, let others know about changes or updates, and get feedback from the people who really "got it" - those few who did (at least as part of their jobs) what I did.

In researching blogs and blog writing, I knew that I had to have a readership goal for my blog - which would determine how often I needed to post. If you want to grow your blog and increase your readership, then blog post frequency is important. One article likened this to a newspaper. Would you continue to buy a newspaper if the articles in it were the same day after day? No. So to get new readers, and to keep your existing readers, you need to post. A lot. (According to the internet - and isn't it always correct?)

And so I began writing (way back in 2009) with the goal of posting at least twice a week, and more if I could. I created a recurring Outlook calendar event to make sure I was setting aside time in my day to write, and to remind myself of this goal. Go Gina!

But I soon found out that two things kind of got in the way for me: 1. I didn't have the time to devote to writing well researched, relevant, and interesting posts, and 2. Things don't change that frequently in the CLE world.

For the first point: Like many of my fellow lawyers, I'm a perfectionist. And I'm driven to be the best at what I do. That means that I tend to obsess about the things upon which I'm working and hold myself to sometimes impossibly high standards. What to talk about? Big decision! Then I would take hours to write a single blog post, ensuring that I "wordsmithed" each sentence. This takes a lot of time - time I didn't really have as I actually have a full-time job actually doing the accreditation! I've since eased up on myself and can often "dash off" a blog post in a few minutes (not this one, however...baby steps!).

The larger obstacle for me is often the second point: Change is SLOW in the CLE world! How often do the CLE rules change? How frequently do regulators decide to handle an issue differently than before? Without constant change (which I'm certainly NOT arguing for!) determining topics for my blog posts was more challenging than I first realized. I didn't want to blog about me - my personal life or activities - there, I was SURE, no one did care!

As time has continued to move forward, I've learned a lot about how much blog posting is enough, for me and for Gina's CLE Blog. Do I always meet this (now reduced) goal? Certainly not. Sometimes it is for lack of time, and sometimes it is for lack of topic.

But I'll keep on trying. And I'll keep on encouraging my readers and colleagues to converse. Let me know if you have questions. Let me know if you want to vent. Let me know what is going on in your professional and personal lives. THAT's what Gina's CLE Blog is about.

 

 

California Proposed Rule Change to Clarify Accreditable Content

The comment period for a proposed rule change under California's MCLE Rule (Rules of the State Bar, Title 2, Div. 4, Rule 2.52 and Title 3, Div. 5, Ch. 1, Rule 3.601) is now open until September 8, 2012.

The proposed change (to a single word in the rule) would clarify and eliminate any ambiguity as to what constitutes permissible and credit-worthy MCLE, and expand the scope of acceptable MCLE to expressly cover programs and activities that relate directly to the management and operation of a member's law office and to mediation training.

According to the executive summary/agenda:

"In the past, there has been some confusion by MCLE providers as to the types of programs that will qualify for MCLE credit under certain broad categories."

This proposed change hopes to clarify this for providers.

Under the current regulations, education courses on the management of law practice do not qualify for MCLE credit. Examples include:

• Topics related to business or financial management of a law firm;
• Topics related to law office operation, including but not limited to facilities, staffing, systems and equipment;
•  Topics related to creation and improvement of legal case work and work flow management, including time management of attorneys and support staff, and delegation of responsibility;
• Topics related to the competent delivery of legal services and/or the establishment and maintenance of effective law office management; 
• Topics related to communications by and between attorneys and support staff;
• Topics related to the use of computer and/or Internet technology in the practice of law or the management of a law office;
• Topics related to the lawful and ethical management of a law office’s financial accounts including client trust accounts;
• Topics relating to lawful and ethical client fee agreements, fee sharing and referral arrangements.

Since these are areas in which attorneys encounter difficulties, i.e., discipline and attorney malpractice, the MCLE staff believe that it would be appropriate to once again permit MCLE credit for these types of courses.

Where the current rule reads that “the program must relate to legal subjects…AND have significant current professional and practical content” – the proposed change would make this “the program must relate to legal subjects…OR have significant current professional and practical content”. This actually gives the provider much more deference in planning programs that may not be substantive legal topics but which relate to the profession of the law.

Direct comments to:

Laila Bartlett

The State Bar of California

180 Howard Street

San Francisco, CA 94105

Phone: (415) 538-2273

E-mail: laila.bartlett@calbar.ca.gov

 

Off to the Mile-High City with CLE Colleagues

On Saturday, the much anticipated (at least by me) ACLEA Annual Meeting kicks off in Denver! Attendees will be able to join in on high-quality learning (Sean Carter is only on the agenda once!), networking events, notable plenary sessions, and much camaraderie.

Saturday begins with the CLE Boot Camp - a must for any first time attendee at ACLEA. Sessions include basics on marketing, technology, in-house, publications, accreditation, and negotiation. The folks you meet in your boot camp will be life-long CLE buddies - the go-to people who will help you make your way in the world of CLE.

Saturday is also featuring a fantastic add-on event for the more experienced ACLEA members: "Lights, Curtain, Action!: Fine Tuning the Delivery Style of Your CLE Presenters" - where Leonard Matheo and Stuart Teicher will arm you with the information and practicable tips you need to take your speakers to the next level.

Then, meet-and-greet all those colleagues you haven't seen since New Orleans with the Opening Welcome Reception. This is your chance to catch up, grab a cocktail, and plan the rest of your ACLEA adventure in Denver.

Some highlights for me:

• I want to assure everyone that I love the folks with whom I work (even Kevin McCormack and his lengthy emails),  but I'm interested in Larry Center's "Five Proven Techniques for Dealing with Difficult People" to assist in my interactions with those other, more challenging personalities in the CLE world (and y'all know about whom I'm talking).
• As the manager of an expense (not revenue-generating) department in our business, I'm looking forward to "Living in the Material World - Surviving as a Non-Billable Department" - as I'm sure there will be distinct parallels with the challenges I face in this area.
• Lucas Boling will run through the creation of a customized ad-free event app, from start to finish, in just one hour.
• "60 Apps in 60 Minutes" is making another appearance with a whole new panel of contributors. I had fun suggesting some of my favorite and most useful apps when I spoke on this topic, and I'm looking forward to the new apps and suggestions from Barron, Dawn, Mark, and Sharon.
• Another early-morning, but often informative, round-table discussion about the upcoming changes, trends, and challenges in MCLE accreditation at the MCLE Committee meeting (7:30am on Monday, July 30th).
• Tim Baran and Jan Majewski have invited me to assist them with the "Return of the CLE Game Show" - think you know a lot about the CLE rules and regulations that govern accreditation? Join us for a chance to win fantastic prizes!
• Joint session with CLEReg - getting direct feedback from the regulators themselves!
• "CLE Gamification in Action" - Mindy Thomas-Fulks's highly interactive session on game mechanics and applying them to your CLE.
• The return of Allie Gerkman, now with IAALS, will present at two sessions that take a different look at educating today's lawyers.
• Many, many more!

For a full agenda: click here!

Hope to see y'all in Denver!

 

More Proposed MCLE Rule Changes Open for Comment - Washington State Announces Amendment Drafts

Last week, Kathy Todd, MCLE Manager at the Washington State Bar Association and MCLE Board, announced first drafts of revised rules and regulations for MCLE (APR 11 and Appendix of APR 11). Feedback and comments on drafts is invited for response by the end of day on Friday, July 20, 2012.

According to Kathy's announcement, there are a few substantive changes to the rules. Highlights of these changes include:

• A new category of credits was created called “development” credits.  Up to six credits per reporting period can be earned for topics including work/life balance, stress reduction, career development, leadership training, professionalism, how to increase profits, planning for giving post-retirement pro bono service, communication skill development, and CLE presentation skill development.
• Pro Bono training credit and service credit periods were changed from an annual basis to a reporting period basis.  This means that all the training and service credits can be earned at any time during the reporting period.
• Sponsors will be required to have an attendance verification system for all audio-visual courses that are accredited after the rules and regulations become effective.  Members would still report the audio-visual programs taken, but attendance could be verified for audit purposes.  Many states already require this.

Changes to the appendix include:

• The definition of ethics was clarified to make it easier for a CLE course – or session within a course – to more effectively focus on the critical skills related to ethics and prevention of disciplinary action.  Ethics can only be accredited if it is covered in a course or session devoted to ethics with a specific start and end time.
• When a Form 1 is submitted for ethics credits, an explanation must be included regarding how the course or session meets the requirements for ethics accreditation according to Regulation 101(g).
• A course must be at least 60 minutes long to be accredited.  Twelve other states require this minimum.
• A lawyer must attend at least 30 minutes of a program in order to earn any credit for the course.
• Credit can be earned for topics that were not previously accreditable under the new “development” credits in Regulation 103(d).
• CLE presenters and panelists will be able to get credit for teaching a course more than once if six or more months have elapsed since credit was claimed, the topic is related to a substantive area of law, and the written materials have been updated.
• A lawyer must present, or participate in a panel, for at least 30 minutes in order to earn preparation credit.  Up to five credits can be earned for each 30 minutes of presenting or participating up to a maximum of 10 credits.
• Preparation time credits and writing credits are self-study credits.
• A lawyer may earn pro bono training and service credits at any time during a reporting period.  The number of training credits required is proportional to the number of service credits that the lawyer wants to claim.
• Sponsors of audio-visual programs will have new requirements regarding attendance tracking for audio-visual programs that they want to be accredited after these new rules and regulations go into effect.
• All audio-visual programs will expire after five years, even skills-based courses.
• Sponsors -- The retention period for CLE course materials was changed from four years (which is the current policy) to six years so that sponsors only have two retention periods to track – two years for course evaluations and six years for course materials and for attendance reports.
• Sponsors – Private law firm, corporate legal department, and government sponsors must submit both the Form 1 and the Form 1 fee within 14 days of the CLE activity or else a late fee will be assessed.
• Comity Certificates of MCLE Compliance must be issued on or after October 1 of the last year of the lawyer’s reporting period to be valid.  A late fee will be assessed for any comity certificates submitted after February 1 following the end of a lawyer’s reporting period.

 Feel free to contact Kathy Todd at kathyt@wsba.org with any questions or comments.