Free CLE's

An attorney sent me information on a free CLE at her alma mater. I have sent her information on CLE's in the past; part of her motivation was to ask me to share information with one of her friends, who clerks for a judge. She was astonished to learn that law clerks have to pay for their own CLE's.

In my state, government does not pay for CLE's for government employees, but at least two departments hold free CLE's that are publicized to employees but open to the public, if you find out about them. I have to get on those mailing lists as the CLE's take place a few blocks from where I'm working.

This same attorney suggested that I set up a subscription service and charge people an annual fee to send information to them. For my part, I think that's silly. The information I have is out there and I don't spend a lot of time working on it; up until being asked to send information to one attorney I don't know, everyone with whom I have shared information is someone I know. Not necessarily close friends, mostly people in the same situation as the rest of us, who are doing contract work with the hope that someday they'll get a job of their own.