Summer CLE Special: $10 Per Credit

This CLE program took place in the past. For information on upcoming low-cost CLE programs, please visit my main CLE page.

Update: There should be room for walk-in registrations. You may pay by check at the door. I'm unable to take credit cards at the door, so if you prefer to pay by credit card, please pay before the program by using the link at the bottom of this page.

If you have not registered, to guarantee that you receive a copy of the course materials, it is recommended that you download and print a copy before the program. The course materials are available at the following links, in PDF format:

• Ethics Part 1 (Only the first three pages of this handout will be used.)
• Ethics Parts 4, 5, and 6
• Minnesota Legal History
• (The elimination of bias materials are not available online.)

Saturday, August 6, 2011, 10:30 AM - 5:20 PM

Java Train Cafe
1341 Pascal Street N
Saint Paul, MN 55108
Cafe Phone Number for Directions: 651.646.9179

Minnesota attorneys who need to report this year are finished, and this is the slow season for Continuing Legal Education. You can take advantage of the off season by earning up to six credits, including ethics and bias, for ten dollars per credit. All programs have been approved for credit, as shown below, by the Minnesota Board of Continuing Legal Education. I also want to take the opportunity to re-record some of my video replay programs, so this program will include both live presentations and video replays. Unless you find free programs, you won't find a less expensive opportunity to satisfy your CLE credits.

Registration opens at 10:30 AM. There will be opening remarks at 10:50, and the program will begin at 10:55.

Minnesota CLE credit has been approved as shown on the table above. Wisconsin credit has also been approved. For the "elimination of bias" program, standard Wisconsin CLE credit has been approved. Iowa credit will be applied for upon request.

We have an interesting program scheduled, with three live lectures and three video replays:

Ethics Refresher 2011 (Parts 1, 4, 5, and 6). This will be a comprehensive review of the Rules of Professional Conduct for attorneys in Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Iowa. All three states have adopted substantially similar rules governing lawyers, and this course will review the rules as adopted in all three states. Where the rules differ, we will go over the differences. Seeing these differences is useful for the practitioner in that particular state, but also gives insight into the meaning of the rule in other states. And since the same model rules serve as the basis for most states’ rules, this course will provide practical guidance for attorneys in most U.S. jurisdictions. Many lawyers review the Rules in their entirety only once, and that is before they take the Multistate Professional Responsibility Exam in law school. But the rules change over the years and decades, and some of the finer points might be forgotten. Therefore, this course will serve as a useful refresher for the practitioner to avoid ethical pitfalls. This is a portion of a longer six-hour program, but any segment may be taken individually, and in any order. We will cover four hours of the six-hour program.

Elimination of Bias: The Rules and on Ongoing Process. We'll start by looking at the rules governing bias within the legal profession, which is a subject covered by both the General Rules of Practice and the Rules of Professional Conduct. We will then see how well we are collectively doing as a profession and legal system in abiding by those rules. We will do so through the eyes of participants at a series of community dialogues at which community members were asked to describe their experiences and discuss ideas for advancing racial equality and fairness in the courts. All participants are welcome to share their insights. The elimination of bias program will be held in conjunction with a telephone conference call program for attorneys out of the area who need elimination of bias credit. To register for the conference call, please visit this link.

• Elimination of Bias Learning Goals: Each elimination of bias program will run sixty continuous minutes, will relate directly to the practice of law, and is designed to meet the first and third learning goals for elimination of bias courses:
  
  1. To educate lawyers about the elimination of bias or prejudice in the legal profession, in the practice of law, and/or in the administration of justice; ...
  
  3. To educate lawyers about the problems identified in the Supreme Court’s Race Bias and Gender Fairness Task Force Reports, as well as in other studies, reports or treatises which describe bias and prejudice in the legal profession, in the practice of law, and/or in the administration of justice.
  We will begin by referencing the Supreme Court's 1993 report on the elimination of bias in the judicial system, and we will also look at how both the Rules of Professional Conduct and the General Rules of Practice require us as lawyers to avoid bias.
  
  Then, we will look at how well we are doing in meeting these requirements, as seen by various communities, including communities of color. In particular, we'll examine the suggestions made by members of the public at community dialogues held over the past three years by the Supreme Court's Racial Fairness Committee.
  
  There will be opportunities for participants to discuss these suggestions, and to offer our own suggestions on how we can fulfill these professional obligations.
  
  

Early Minnesota Legal History. This will be a one-hour version of my popular program on Minnesota legal history. Lawyers generally don't think of themselves as historians, but we frequently do the work of historians. We seek out historical events (which we call "precedents") and try to apply these historical lessons to current situations. Minnesota's legal history has a long pedigree, dating back to the Northwest Ordinance of 1787. These antecedents give our laws a "chain of title" that is sometimes ignored. Some of the historical antecedents we'll look at are merely interesting "old cases" with little practical application. But others come under the heading of "venerable precedents", which can sometimes make an argument more compelling. And in a few cases, the law as it existed prior to statehood was arguably enshrined into the state constitution, in which case it takes on special significance.

Richard P. Clem has a B.A. in history from the University of Minnesota, and a J.D., cum laude, from Hamline University School of Law. He has been in private practice in the Twin Cities for over 20 years. His reported cases include: Asociacion Nacional de Pescadores a Pequena Escala o Artesanales de Colombia v. Dow Quimica de Colombia, 988 F.2d 559, rehearing denied, 5 F.3d 530 (5th Cir. 1993), cert. denied, 510 U.S. 1041 (1994); LaMott v. Apple Valley Health Care Center, 465 N.W.2d 585 (Minn. Ct. App. 1991); Abo el Ela v. State,468 N.W.2d 580 (Minn. Ct. App. 1991).

Java Train Cafe
1341 Pascal Street N
Saint Paul, MN 55108
Cafe Phone Number for Directions: 651.646.9179

Directions are available at the cafe's website:

http://www.javatraincafe.com/index.html

Accessibility: Unfortunately, the location of this program is not accessible. There is a stairway between the cafe entrance and the conference room, and no elevator. If accessibility prevents you from attending, please contact me, and I will make whatever accomodations are necessary (including moving the program and/or re-scheduling it).

The cost of this program is $60, for as many or as few credits as you would like to attend. To register, simply send an e-mail to me at clem.law@usa.net letting me know which program(s) you wish to attend. You may pay by check at the door.

You may also register securely online by following the "Buy Now" link below. If you have a PayPal account, you may sign and and use your PayPal account. If you do not have a PayPal account, of if you prefer to simply use a credit card, you may also do so by following this link.

If you have any questions, please e-mail me at clem.law@usa.net or call me at 612-378-7751. If you need to contact me the day of the program, my cel phone number is 651-285-5474.