Attorneys in North Carolina (NC) are running out of time to complete their minimum continuing legal education (MCLE) requirement. North Carolina attorneys have until December 31 to complete the required 12 CLE credit hours. The twelve unit NC MCLE requirement includes two (2) required hours of professional responsibility (ethics) or professionalism.[1] Attorney Credits has recently begun offering CLE courses for North Carolina…
In an earlier Attorney Credit’s post, I wrote about how Nevada is contemplating making substance abuse a mandatory CLE course for its attorneys. Of course, the attorneys opposed to the mandatory requirement always feel that the paternalistic state bar association is going out of its way to burden attorneys with yet another mandatory requirement and ignore the fact that substance abuse is…
The countdown has begun. The end of the year is almost here … yes, only 66 more day until 2013. It is pretty unbelievable – another year has come and is (almost) gone. For many people the end of the year means holidays, Christmas shopping and hanging out with the inlaws. For many attorneys, the end of the year means it’s time…
As Director of Legal Education with at Attorney Credits, one of the trickier parts of CLE is dealing with the MCLE regulations and requirements of each state. Instead of one uniform CLE system throughout the country, each state sets different requirements for its own MCLE program. That’s the reason why Nevada (NV) attorneys must complete 12 CLE units each year, while attorneys…
Call it the legal profession’s dirty little secret – substance abuse. Stories and statistics may vary, but one thing is for certain … there is a definite substance abuse problem in the legal profession. By some accounts, more than 50% of all discipline cases are due to problems with substance abuse and dependence.[1] Whether it’s alcohol, cocaine or pills, many attorneys turn…
The Internet was made for pure communication. That’s why security was such an afterthought – it would hinder the flow of ideas. But as the Internet and World Wide Web have transformed into an incredibly important global infrastructure, this lack of security has become increasingly troublesome. And making things worse, the potential targets for hackers are seemingly endless – from the Whitehouse…
Legal ethics has taken on greater importance over the last few decades. As the incidence of malpractice and the number of disbarments has increased, State Bars have tried to place greater emphasis on legal ethics – whether its though testing like the MPRE or mandatory ethics courses as part of the MCLE requirement.[1] Florida is one state that supplies its attorneys with…
Every active member of the State Bar of Texas must complete a minimum of 15 hours of accredited TX CLE during each MCLE compliance year. Failure to report TX MCLE credit hours could result in a non-compliance penalty – and penalties range from $100 to $300. Texas is considered a self-reporting state. If you are an attorney in Texas you are responsible…
New York is the only state where the MCLE Rules and Regulations require that the faculty of a CLE course include at least one attorney in good standing who must actively participate in the MCLE course. Most other states allow expert witnesses and other legal professionals to teach CLE courses who are not licensed attorneys in good standing with a state bar.…
All the more reason to properly complete and document your MCLE compliance in California. The State Bar of California has made it no secret that they plan to audit many more California attorney’s MCLE compliance in the coming years. Since California is a self-reporting state, there is more leeway for falsifying compliance than in states who directly keep track of their attorneys…