Richard Clem Continuing Legal Education
Elimination of Bias 2012: Como Park, March 27, 2012

This program took place in the past. For details on upcoming programs, please visit my main CLE page.

Tuesday, March 27, 2012, 1:00 - 3:00 PM
Community Meeting Room
Lower Level, Como Lakeside Pavilion
1360 North Lexington Parkway
St. Paul, Minnesota 55103

*- Minnesota CLE credit has been approved/applied for as follows: Minnesota, 2.0 Elimination of Bias Credits approved (MBCLE event code 166188). Wisconsin and Iowa: CLE credit applied for upon request.

Elimination of Bias 2012. Live program presented by Richard Clem. 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. There will be opportunity for discussion, and participants are welcome to share their insights.

We will discuss issues such as the importance of diversity of the bench and court staff, and whether this is necessary for actual fairness, perceived fairness, or both. We will discuss the importance of overcoming barriers to access to the courts, such as lack of public transportation. We will discuss the special issues of immigrant and refugee parents whose children interact with the judicial system. We will discuss actual and perceived racial profiling. We will discuss the unintended immigration consequences of state court actions. Finally, we will discuss how the system can better reach out to communities of color, both as a system, and as individual attorneys. Two hours.

This 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.

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).

CLE credit has been approved/applied for as follows:

Como Lakeside Pavilion is located in Como Park, on the west side of Lake Como, on Lexington Parkway. From Interstate 94, take Lexington north 2.3 miles. From Minnesota Highway 36, take Lexington south 1.9 miles. Free parking is available in the two large lots near the Pavilion. There is additional free parking nearby in the lot on East Como Boulevard, and elsewhere in the park. Enter the building through the main café entrance on the parking lot level and take the elevator to the lower level. Outside food and beverages are not permitted, but coffee and a wide variety of food and beverages are available from Black Bear Crossings upstairs.

The cost of this program is $49. You may register by mail by sending payment, along with a note indicating the date of the program to:
Richard P. Clem
PO Box 14957
Minneapolis, MN 55414

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.