A Primer on CLE Regulations in Colorado
The state of Colorado requires attorneys in the state to participate in Continuing Legal Education, or CLE, programs designed to help them stay informed about legal developments. Attorneys must obtain 7 CLE credits every year, 4 of which must be legal ethics or professionalism credits. Attorneys in Colorado a required to report their CLE credits every year by January 31. For the 2015 reporting year, members were asked to self-report their credits through the online portal on their member account.
Prior to 2013, attorneys were required to obtain 45 credits every three years, a portion of which were required to be in ethics and professionalism. In 2013, the number of credits per year was lowered to 15 , due to a restructuring of the CLE program by the Colorado Supreme Court. This is a step that is fairly popular with attorneys, several of whom were concerned that the previous reporting requirements required too many hours to be completed in one calendar year. The new rule allows lawyers to take time off from their CLE credits during slow work years. Further changes are expected in the future, as the reporting period for CLE credits may be changed from the calendar year to a fiscal year as a result of work being completed by a CLE committee. Any significant changes will be announced in advance by the Office of Attorney Regulation, the agency that oversees Colorado’s CLE.
The Perks of CLE for Legal Professionals
For the practice of law, continuing education, and Colorado MCLE specifically, offers many benefits to the practitioner. Staying current keeps you aware of emerging new areas of legal practice, developments in court procedure, and the law itself. Advances in technology and delivery formats for CLE also make it easier than ever to keep furthering your knowledge.
The driving force behind why lawyers choose to participate in CLE is the need to stay current. Not least of the reasons for this is the impact of technology on our lives and on the practice of law. As just one high profile example: Within hours of the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision on Obergefell v. Hodges, the website for the Immigration Equality Action Fund crashed due to the demand for information on immigration and same-sex marriages. Knowing that new legal issues, especially in emerging areas will present themselves makes it imperative that attorneys grow their knowledge base.
Emerging areas of the law has been the topic of discussion at national lawyer-focused meetings across the country. Highlights prevailing interests include bankruptcy, legal AI, and technology’s expanding role in the practice of law. Data science and predictive analytics are taking the legal world by storm with applications that are beyond the imagination of most of the participants.
Participants in the recent LMA conference were also talking tech, specifically mobile app design and legal marketing. Three factors woven into this important area were found to be technical skills, strategic thinking, and high level communication. All three equate to the lawyer’s skills or "zone of genius" for building a law practice. Each of these is either a part of an attorney’s existing skill set or the lawyer is being told to get onboard with the technology and directly apply it to their practice for results.
Lawyers are working to expand their efforts to stay ahead or at least in the competition in the field. CLE topics cover a variety of topics, but are still focused on a few different distinctions like substantive law, practical skills, ethics, or professional responsibility. Most states have licensing requirements your state’s CLE board sets a limit on the amount of each topic type allowed. Colorado does not divide the subject matter up; among the courses submitted in a lawyer’s 45 hours you can mix and match only one at a time from each provider. Your license provider averages about 30-hours per year between online and live courses offered by them. The Colorado Supreme Court Board of Continuing Legal Education reviews applications and awards accreditation to eligible courses for all lawyers in Colorado registering under MCLE.
CLE can be an effective way to build your practice if you choose the correct courses. If you can position yourself as the "go-to" expert within a niche, you will build a strong, competitive practice. CLE can allow you to find your niche and exercise VIP-like status without adding perceived barriers like too many credentials. CLE will keep you ahead of the learning curve on emerging niche topics within your field and the latest court trends. It keeps you in the know, growing your practice and career.
How to Locate Approved CLE Programs
The Colorado Supreme Court provides multiple resources for attorneys on its website and through blogs, the best of which is arguably the "Attorneys’ Continuing Legal Education (CLE) Handbooks" webpage. It offers both overview documents and links to other important information about CLE in Colorado.
The CLE Information Handbook for Attorneys provides a comprehensive look at everything you need to know about Continuing Legal Education requirements, including:
It also advises attorneys about the CLE credits available for teaching and writing and includes links to topical articles, including those specific to various practice areas (criminal law, family law, and juvenile law). Perhaps most importantly, the CLE Information Handbook explains how attorneys can find CLE programs, including free and paid options.
In addition to the CLE Information Handbook for Attorneys, the Colorado Bar Association With help from the Colorado Supreme Court, maintains another excellent resource for finding CLE seminars and webinars throughout the state: the CLE Seminars and Webinars webpage. This resource currently includes:
Through its resource pages for lawyers, Colorado’s Supreme Court provides registered attorneys with everything they need to choose and track approved courses throughout the year. The mandated CLE topics vary from ethics and professionalism courses to courses on advanced legal ethics, federal and state law updates and more. But as varied as the courses are, finding the right course isn’t difficult.
The Importance of Technology in CLE
In the past decade, we’ve seen technology start to seep into every venue imaginable, and CLE is no exception. With practitioners’ schedules often being filled to capacity, the option to attend a webinar during a lunch break or on an evening away from the office can be a welcome reprieve from scheduling a full-day program at a brick-and-mortar location. Nationally, CLE webinars and online workshops have become more commonplace, aided by the fact that the Bar is now allowing some of these types of programs to count toward Colorado’s CLE requirements, including interstate CLE credit for programs hosted by other state bars. The advent of these e-learning options allows attorneys to gain very specific knowledge on a particular topic, without having to take an entire day away from the office, or leave the office at all. Providers of these programs are also now offering numerous ways to watch or listen to the program, whether it be live or recorded, through video or audio streaming, or through a downloadable file. There are certainly convenience and efficiency benefits associated with these programs. With all the ease offered in the online CLE world , there are some potential downsides to consider for practitioners and education providers alike. It can be difficult to fully engage a lively audience on the other side of a video or phone connection – experience has shown that, without proper controls in place, online attendees can quickly become distracted by anything from email notifications to the soap opera playing out on their television. Likewise, a presenter in the front of a room can often gauge and adjust the temperature of a learning environment in real time when conducting an in-person session, while it can be much more difficult for an online presenter or host to adapt if it isn’t going well. These challenges are not insurmountable, though, and most providers will tell you that with the right amount of planning, they are entirely manageable. With the further development of convenient online education platforms, organized bars and other providers around the country are continuing to expand their CLE offerings to include webinars, audio and video feeds, and other forms of modern information delivery.
Harnessing CLE for Professional Development
Carefully selected CLE courses can be a boon to your career advancement. For instance, it is easy to find legal classes that will enhance your practice area expertise. In particular, if you are a green attorney, building your skills around a niche practice area will take the pressure off of needing a large referral base. Additionally, networking effective networking can start at CLE courses. In addition to honing your professional friendships, getting to know colleagues within the bar can also help you find allies to endorse your future endeavors. Lastly, you can also give back to the profession by presenting CLE classes or volunteering to teach. These activities provide a unique opportunity to foster relationships, while showing off how knowledgeable you are in your specified area.
Top CLE Hurdles and How to Clear Them
Even the most committed and career-minded attorneys sometimes encounter challenges that can hinder their ability to fulfill their CLE requirements by the set deadlines. Here we examine some of those common pain points and offer practical solutions to help you deal with them.
Lack of Knowledge: Finding high-quality continuing legal education material can be a daunting task in itself. With so many different providers and such an expansive array of courses and presentations, it can be difficult to narrow down your options. In particular, you may struggle to find courses that are sufficiently in-depth to be valuable to you. Make sure that any provider you choose specializes in your area of practice and delivers content at the appropriate depth for your needs. Time Management: Most Colorado attorneys have demanding workloads, making it difficult to find time for CLE course materials. As a result, you may postpone completing your credits until the deadline is dangerously close. There’s an app for that! You can solve this problem by working with a provider that has a comprehensive range of CLE programs all in one place, so that everything you need is readily available as soon as you wake up on the first of July. You can also find time where you least expect it: attend a live CLE event near you, including webinars, during your lunch hour and knock out a couple hours of your required material without disrupting your workday most days. Another option is to block out 20 minutes in your calendar every day for the final month before the deadline to complete your credits . Taking the Right Courses: If you’re short on time, you may be tempted to make some risky choices when selecting CLE programs. Attorneys are required to complete at least seven hours of professional responsibility CLE, covering topics such as ethics, professional identity and competence. Skipping these critical courses in favor of other areas can be tempting in the short run but can spell disaster later on. Remember, the Colorado Supreme Court Board of Continuing Legal and Judicial Education places great importance on ensuring that ethical issues are updated frequently, which is why you are required to obtain both ethics and professionalism credits. Professionalism courses cover issues that fall into a legal competence standard such as the duty of competence under Rule 1.1 of the Colorado Rules of Professional Conduct. If you fail to understand your ethical obligations as an attorney, you may end up facing serious consequences of disciplinary action, resulting in sanctions ranging from a censure to suspension and even disbarment. Selecting a quality CLE provider also means you can check reviews of the programs you are not familiar with before purchasing and enjoy your CLE day in undisturbed comfort. Whereas homework in Law school was railroaded through a narrow curriculum, CLE offers you an opportunity to widen your horizons and really dive deep into something interesting, even if it isn’t directly relevant to your practices.