The Time Has Come for Mandatory CLE

The Illinois Supreme Court should be applauded for embracing excellence and competence in requiring mandatory continuing legal education, making it the 41^st state to do so. The court ruled in September that all licensed attorneys must complete 20 hours of classes every two years, with an incremental increase to 30 hours by 2012.

The medical profession has had similar requirements for years, and somehow it makes me feel more secure knowing that my doctors have made an effort to stay on top of the latest developments. The legal profession is no different.

A voluntary national program of continuing legal education began in the 1940s as attorneys returned to their law practices after World War II. Developed by the American Bar Association and American Law Institute, the programs consisted of lectures, panel discussions and simulations conducted by practicing lawyers and judges.

In 1975, Minnesota became the first state to make legal education a prerequisite to re-licensing attorneys. The Minnesota Supreme Court approved a program that required all state-licensed attorneys and judge to complete 45 hours of post-graduate legal education every three years. Approximately 27 other states followed suit, generally requiring 10 to 15 hours of accredited continuing legal education each year. A lawyer who doesn’t meet the requirement faces revocation of his or her license.

The law is changing in so many areas that it is anomalous to think that earning a degree decades ago makes one qualified for the rest of one’s life. Given the increasingly complex structure of law itself, many overlapping or entirely new issues are arising all the time. What better way to learn about these changes than from someone who is familiar with them and has actually worked in that area of law?

MCLE really is required mentoring. In fact, that is exactly how lawyers were schooled years ago, before the proliferation of law schools.

One would learn at the feet of the master, listening as he practiced his skills in a courtroom, in the office and at the library. At the turn of the 20^th century, there were few education al requirements, and passage of an oral examination meant entry to the bar. Now there are extensive education prerequisites, including three or more years of pre-legal education and graduation from law school. The bar exam and accompanying character and fitness reviews also have expanded in scope and content.

With MCLE, there will likely be a few who are going to be looking for the "easy" class, those who will merely sign in and duck out at the first break, those who will be on their Blackberries or working on their caseload or filling out The New York Times crossword puzzle. One cannot change people’s thirst for learning or force them to improve themselves.

What MCLE does is to ensure that those with good intentions stop procrastinating and start making re-education a priority.

MCLE is as much for the public as it is for the lawyer. The public perception of the profession needs some work, and perhaps this will be a step toward gaining the respect of those who rely on lawyers at a critical point in their lives.

The Illinois Supreme Court also used the opportunity to create a Commission on Professionalism. Its mission is "to promote among the lawyers and judge of Illinois principles of integrity, professionalism and civility; to foster commitment to the elimination of bias and divisiveness within the legal and judicial systems; and to ensure that those systems provide equitable, effective and efficient resolution of problems and disputes for the people of Illinois." Lofty but attainable goals.

The court made a rule with teeth, but one that is not onerous. It has provisions for hardship, say, for solo practitioners or those who cannot afford to pay for a course. It allows for teleconferencing and alternative ways to keep up to date.

At the very least, professional self-renewal provides the experience to broaden one’s knowledge and to sharpen one’s skill in making intellectual inquiry; it provides an opportunity to interact with other lawyers on an educational, non-combative level.

These benefits certainly outweigh the costs.

What was particularly heartening about the new rule is its insistence that four hours of the requirement must include courses "specifically devoted to professionalism, diversity issues, mental illness and addition issues, civility, or legal ethics credit." Additionally, credit will be given for those who attend courses "designed to train lawyers who have agreed to provide pro bono services."

Some lawyers are forgetting about their public duties. We have professional responsibilities to the public, the courts, the profession, the administration of justice and to the lawmaking process.

As James Russell Lowell, the 19^th century poet, political essayist and diplomat wrote: "It was in making education not only common to all, but in some sense compulsory on all, that the destiny of the free republic of America was practically settled." More than 100 years later, these words continue to ring true. And 100 years hence, these truths will ring even louder.