summer 2004 vol. 10 no. 1                                                                                                                             Return to Contents
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Is There a “Free Lunch” When it Comes to CLE?

Allen F. Mihecoby

In order to promote and advance our profession it seems that more paralegal organizations are gravitating toward a mandatory CLE requirement for their members. Recently, our own LAD Board voted to join this forward thinking trend. Unfortunately, it seems that fewer employers are jumping on the bandwagon and assisting paralegals and other support professionals in paying for the incumbent tuition and registration fees. In an effort to assist the LAD members, I embarked on a research project to find out if there was a “Free Lunch” when it comes to CLE — or at the every least, either low-cost or no-cost CLE. I must apologize to those LAD members outside of the Dallas-Fort Worth area as my knowledge base only covers this area. However, much of the CLE that I found may be available in your areas as well. Following is a summary of my research:

1. Service Providers. Check with legal service providers who may offer courses for CLE credit. CT Corporation Systems offers both on-line training and live seminar presentations on a variety of topics such as: entity formation and the UCC. CT’s website states that these courses have been approved by both NALA and NFPA for CLE credit. To find a seminar near you please refer to the CT website at: (http://www.ctadvantage.com/public/Seminar/seminar_topic.asp). LexisNexis offers a Paralegal Certificate of Mastery Program for its subscribers. The series of courses consists of five one-hour training sessions covering topics such as: case analysis, cite checking, company financial research and more. These courses are available on-line without the need to leave the comfort of your office. NFPA and NALA have both approved these courses for CLE credit. For more information please refer to the LexisNexis website at: (http://www.lexisnexis.com/custserv/Training/). Also don’t forget to check with your firm or corporation’s insurance malpractice carrier for possible courses that may provide Ethics CLE credit. Fios, Inc., a litigation support company offers a great series on electronic discovery at no cost. I’ve participated in several of these courses and highly recommend them. Alex Lubarsky, Esq. is a great speaker with a depth of knowledge that can only come from years of practice. (www.fiosinc.com). Topics that FIOS have presented include: Demystifying Co$ts Associated with Electronic Evidence Handling and How to Prepare a Winning E-Discovery Motion and/or Brief, Creating a Defensible and Credible Evidence Preservation/Collection Plan in the Face of Impending Litigation. Jason Parks with Litigation Solutions, Inc. in Dallas, also offers CLE on litigation support topics and working with PDF files. (http://www.lsilegal.com/). Recently, Litigation Solutions has rolled-out a program entitled “Tech-Tuesdays” which are free CLE events on technical topics, (e.g. Simplified Electronic Document Review & Production - Tagging for Privilege in a Digital World). These events are held in Downtown Dallas, but your local branch may offer something similar.

2. Outside Counsel. If you work in-house for a corporation, you may want to check with your outside counsel or perhaps even your colleagues firms who may sponsor free CLE seminars on a variety of topics. Our supervising attorneys are just as cognizant of maintaining hours as we are. Thompson & Knight, one of the firms that represent my employer, offers a great series on Labor & Employment law. When I worked in a firm, our section sponsored in-house CLE for the attorneys, as well as the paralegals. I was also able to pick up more hours by attending the CLE events sponsored by other sections within the firm. From my research it appears that most “in-house” CLE that a firm offers is considered closed to clients.

3. Professional Organizations. Don’t forget most professional organizations provide monthly CLE at no charge, either to its members or non-members. There may be a nominal charge for the meal itself as well as for parking. These professional associations also includes each of the LAD’s Districts. As you may know, each district district director is now required to provide CLE opportunities to its members. Here in the Dallas area there are also several associations with offerings of CLE, which includes: the Metroplex Association of Corporate Paralegals (www.macp.net), Legal Assistants of North Texas Association (www.lantaweb.org), and Dallas Area Paralegal Association (www.dallasparalegals.org). Members might as well get the maximum benefit of his or her membership fees and CLE is just one of such benefits. Paralegals may join the American Bar Association as associate members. The ABA hosts monthly, national CLE teleconferences for a nominal charge for its members (for the fee of $9.75) or members may wait until the following month and take the course for free and still receive CLE credit. (http://www.abanet.org/cle/connection.html). Additionally, each ABA Section periodically offers free telephone conferences. The Business Law Section hosted a seminar on “Pre-Bankruptcy Planning: How much is too much?” that was offered to section members at no charge.

4. Presentations. Most certifying organizations requiring CLE attendance will grant credit to an individual for making a CLE presentation or writing a substantive legal article. Perhaps you can prepare a presentation and take it on the road to a neighboring district, I’m sure they’d welcome the opportunity. You may even consider presenting a CLE with your supervising attorney. Most commercial providers seem to like this team-approach, the provider or sponsoring organization may give you a discount on tuition to the rest of the event or even allow your co-workers to attend at a reduced rate. Legal Assistant Today (http://www.legalassistanttoday.com/editorial_guide.htm), the Texas Paralegal Journal (http://www.lad.org/tpj_online/submit.asp), NALA’s Facts & Findings (http://www.nala.org/Facts_Findings.htm [click on the “Editorial Guidelines” link]), and NFPA’s The National Paralegal Reporter (http://www.paralegals.org/displaycommon.cfm?an=1&subarticlenbr=484) almost always are on the look-out for good, substantive articles. Each of the links following the publications name will take you to the editorial guides for submission of articles to the respective organization.

5. Paralegal School. Your paralegal alma mater may allow former students to attend a refresher course or two at no charge. That is one benefit of attending the Southeastern Career Institute here in Dallas. Additionally, the school may have a need for seasoned paralegals to make an informative presentation to current students. In a recent discussion with Drenda Burris, Director of Career Services with SCI in Dallas, there is a definite need for experienced paralegals to assist with the education of our future paralegals. As discussed elsewhere in this article, these types of presentations may be eligible for CLE credit.

6. On-line CLE. www.boardmember.com offers what I like to call “nutshell” presentations on corporate topics, which may be eligible for CLE credit. I’ve participated in two of the nutshells and found them informative. Both NALA (www.nalacampus.com) and NFPA (www.paralegals.org) offer low cost, high quality CLE via the web. Another great resource for both information and CLE events is www.law.com. I’ve taken a few courses from this organization and was appreciative of the content and format. The State Bar has begun to offer a 0.5 hour of credit for various topics for free. Thus far is has offered: “Legislative Update 2003”, and “Justice for All: Raising Awareness for Civil Legal Services in Texas. Reflections on the Preamble to the Texas Disciplinary Rules of Professional Conduct” (http://www.texasbarcle. com/index.asp).

7. College of the State Bar. The College offers a 20% discount to members for all CLE events that it sponsors. An associate member may attend the Spring Training Course to obtain 15 hours of CLE for the cost of $195 (or $345.00 for non-members of the State Bar College). The topics covered are diverse, spanning almost every area of the law: Civil Appellate, Civil Trial, Real Estate, Estate Planning/Probate, and Tax law. At this time, the summer school session isn’t finalized. I surmise it will be similar to the cornucopia of courses offered in the spring. (www.texasbarcollege.com).

8. Reduced Tuition. Most CLE programs will grant attendees reduced tuition if a group of two or more is registered. Additionally, organizations may offer scholarships to attend certain events. For instance, LAD offers a tuition-only scholarship for attendance at LAU. An inquiry to professional service providers may also reap the benefit of reduced rates or a full scholarship. It never hurts to ask. I recently petitioned the ABA, noting that I am a paralegal, to allow me to attend a CLE event at the same reduced rate as a first year attorney. My request was summarily granted, and I was allowed to attend at the reduced rate.

9. Legal Assistants University. In my opinion, no where else may a paralegal obtain the same level of quality CLE that is available at LAU for the same price. LAU also presents paralegals with a forum to make presentations and gain CLE credit as discussed above.

While there may not be a “Free Lunch” when it comes to CLE — there is quality CLE available at either low- or no-cost. It just takes a little effort to find it. If you know of other CLE events that may meet this criterion please email me the information! I’d like to maintain a list for future reference. Good luck!

Allen F. Mihecoby, CLA, RP, is an in-house paralegal for The Neiman Marcus Group, Inc. in its corporate office in Dallas, Texas. He is a member of District 2, as well as LANTA, DAPA and MACP. In 1997, he received a paralegal certificate from the ABA approved program at Southeastern Paralegal Institute in Dallas, Texas. He earned both the PACE Registered Paralegal (RP) designation from NFPA and the Certified Legal Assistant (CLA) designation from NALA in 2002.

Texas Paralegal Journal © Copyright 2003 by the Legal Assistants Division, State Bar of Texas.

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