CLE's

Remember to look around your area for free or low-cost CLE's. Sources may vary and I learn about many by word of mouth; many of the free ones are repeated annually so are good to remember. I have found many by just googling around for "free cle" and the name of my city and have learned of others from colleagues on document review projects or from project staff.

I have attended a free CLE at each of two law schools and have learned of others taking place at the two other law schools. My alma mater hosts a CLE in April that's an evening class for one credit, sponsored by a local big law foundation. My friends alma mater is hosting a CLE sponsored by a non-profit; it's half a day and free.

While there are those who prefer all-day CLE's and pay because they want to choose the topic, I firmly believe that free is good. I'm not in a position to have my CLE's paid by my employer, though if I found one that was relevant, it's likely they would do so. One of my friends is licensed in TX, so has to send in course handouts and pay a fee to obtain credits. Unlike my state, she has to come up with 15 credits annually; of course she prefers all-day or at least half-day CLE's to minimize her out-of-pocket expense. One credit wouldn't be cost-effective for her.

In my case, I have attended several morning CLE's at my alma mater and while they all say it's going to be one credit, it was more frequently 1.5 credits. That doesn't sound like much, but if you start when your reporting period begins, rather than a month or two before, it can lead to huge savings. Right now, I have two more sessions of my stats class and at that point, so long as I attend both, I'll need about 8 more credits.

My sources are:

Non-profits
Law firms
Law firms hosting CLE's put on by non-profits
Law Schools, especially my alma mater
Law Schools hosting CLE's put on by non-profits
Law Schools hosting CLE's put on by Big Law
Bar Association which has a free one-hour webcast once in awhile
Bar Committees and Sections which sometimes have a free one-hour CLE, either in the morning or at lunchtime
Government agencies; our Attorney General's office and Revisor of Statutes Office hold free CLE's each year

Talk to people who have been licensed longer than you have. My first reporting period I was unaware of free CLE's so ended up paying a lot of money. A lot of people who know about free CLE's procrastinate and end up paying a lot of money. Would you rather take a day without pay and attend a free CLE or would you rather pay a bunch of money and take the day off? Surprisingly, many choose paying and taking the day off without pay because they wait until the end of their reporting period. Don't make that mistake!