5.0 CLE Credits, including 4 Ethics Credits, Only $99
Update: This CLE program took place in the past. For information on current programs, please visit my Main CLE Page.
Hotel information:
This program took place at the C3 Hotel & Convention Center, shown here. Reservations can be made at Hotels.com).
Other hotels in Hastings include
Super 8 - Hastings,
Comfort Inn
,
Rodeway Inn
, and
Hastings Express Inn
.
On Monday, August 21, the United States will experience a total eclipse of the sun. The total eclipse will be visible anywhere along a 70-mile-wide band extending from Oregon to South Carolina. It has been 99 years since a total eclipse was visible from coast to coast. I will be in Hastings, Nebraska, on August 21 to view the eclipse with my family. And on Tuesday, August 22, I will present a five-credit (including four ethics) Continuing Legal Education program in Hastings. This is a great opportunity for two groups of attorneys:
All persons registering for the CLE will receive a free pair of eclipse glasses similar to the ones shown below. I will mail the glasses to you when you register, or you can pick them up from me at my hotel in Hastings on Sunday night. If you need additional glasses, let me know, and they are $2.50 per pair. These glasses are made in the USA by American Paper Optics, and are ISO and CE certified for safe direct viewing of the sun. Glasses of this type are necessary to safely view the sun during the partial phases of the eclipse before and after totality. I have more information about the eclipse
at my blog.
Tuesday, August 22, 2017, 8:00 AM - 1:25 PM
Conference Room
C3 Hotel & Convention Center
2205 Osborne Drive East
Hastings, NE, 68901
Hotel Phone Number for Directions: (402) 463-6721
CLE credit has been approved/applied for as follows:
Update: Space is still available. If you plan to pay by check, please call me or e-mail me to let me know you'll be attending. I won't be able to check my mail after Friday. You can mail the check or just bring it to the program. You can register at any at the link below and pay by credit card. If you need the free eclipse glasses, it's probably too late for me to mail them, but you can pick them up at my hotel in Hastings on Sunday evening.
Ethics Refresher 2017. Live lecture presented by Richard Clem. This will be a comprehensive review of the Rules of Professional Conduct for attorneys in Nebraska, Iowa, Minnesota, Wisconsin, and most other states. 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.
In addition to the ethics program, the final hour will review some recent decisions from appellate courts in Nebraska and around the region.
The course materials will be distributed at the door. If you would like to print a copy prior to the program (or "go green" and view them on your portable device), they are available at the following links:
Richard P. Clem is an attorney and continuing legal education (CLE) provider in Minnesota. He has been in private practice in the Twin Cities for 25 years. He has a J.D., cum laude, from Hamline University School of Law in St. Paul and a B.A. in History from the University of Minnesota. 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). You can visit his web pages at RichardClem.com and w0is.com and his blog at OneTubeRadio.com.
Hastings: The program will be in the conference room of the C3 Hotel & Convention Center, 2205 Osborne Drive East, Hastings, NE, 68901. The hotel phone number for directions is (402) 463-6721
The cost for the entire program is $99. You may register by mail by
sending payment, along with a note indicating the date of the program you
will be attending to:
Richard P. Clem
PO Box 14957
Minneapolis, MN 55414
Phone (612) 378-7751
For questions the day of the CLE, Cel.
(651) 285-5474
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.
Hotel rooms are no longer available on Sunday night (the night prior to the eclipse) in Hastings or any other city within the total eclipse zone. However, since rooms are still available in Omaha, there are a number of convenient options for those traveling from Iowa, Minnesota, and Wisconsin. I recommend one of the following options to view the eclipse and attend the CLE.
Because heavy traffic is expected in the area for the eclipse, you should allow extra driving time and make advance hotel reservations. You can make reservations at any of the hotels listed on this page simply by clicking on the hotel's name in the links below.
If flying, I recommend that you fly to Omaha on or before Sunday and rent a car. Omaha is served by: Alaska Airlines, American Airlines, Allegiant Air Airlines, Delta Airlines, American Eagle Airlines, Southwest Airlines, United Airlines, and Frontier Airlines.
All hotels within the eclipse path of totality, including the hotel where the CLE will be presented, are completely booked Sunday night, the night before the eclipse. However, rooms are available Monday night, since most eclipse travelers will start home immediately after the eclipse.
It is still possible to find a hotel on Sunday night close to (but not within) the area of the total eclipse. For most visitors from Minnesota, Iowa, and Wisconsin, the best plan is to make a hotel reservation for Sunday night in Omaha, Nebraska, or Council Bluffs, Iowa. To view the eclipse, you can then drive west on Interstate 80 about 55 miles to Lincoln Nebraska, where the total eclipse is visible.
For best viewing, you can continue driving. A full 250 miles of Interstate 80 west of Lincoln is within the path of totality. Grand Island, NE, is an excellent spot to view the eclipse. This is only 97 miles beyond Lincoln, or a total of 146 miles from Omaha. Grand Island is right on the center line of the eclipse, and offers maximum viewing. It is only 25 miles from the CLE location. Therefore, you can leave Omaha in the morning, find a good viewing spot in Grand Island or Hastings, and be able to view the eclipse when the sun goes dark at 12:58 PM.
Eclipse traffic on Interstate 80 is expected to be extremely heavy, and you should leave Omaha very early Monday morning to secure a good viewing spot. But even in the worst case scenario of being stuck in a monumental traffic jam, you will still be able to view the eclipse from the freeway. (And if traffic isn't moving anyway, it won't do any harm to get out of your car and view the eclipse at 12:58). But if you leave Omaha early in the morning, you should have no difficulty securing a good viewing spot. Most towns have special viewing events planned. If you need any assistance planning your travel, please contact me and I'll be glad to help.
Homestead National Monument of America in Beatrice, NE, is about 35 miles
south of Lincoln and is directly on the eclipse center line. The park has
special events planned and will be one of the locations of the official
NASA broadcast of the eclipse. Homestead will also feature a special
program with the PBS Kid's program Ready Jet Go. Details
about the program are available at the park's website. Admission is
free of charge. After the eclipse, it's about a 100 mile drive to the CLE
location in Hastings. Homestead National Monument parking & shuttle bus information. Update (Aug. 9): Some of the following hotels are now booked, but most (including the hotel where the CLE will be held) still have rooms available.
Hotel rooms are not available in
Hastings on Sunday night. If you are coming from Minnesota or Iowa, I
recommend that you spend Sunday night in Omaha or Council Bluffs, and
those hotels are listed below. Hotel rooms in Hastings become available
on Monday night. You can check in after viewing the eclipse and be ready
for the CLE Tuesday morning.
If you are traveling with your family, then I recommend the hotel where the CLE will be held, the C3 Hotel & Convention Center. It features an indoor pool and game room, pictured here, and rooms are about $129 per night (use coupon code TRAVEL8 when making your reservation at Hotels.com). Rooms were still available as of 8/11.
Other hotels in Hastings available Monday night include
Super 8 - Hastings (no more rooms available as of 8/11),
Comfort Inn
(no more rooms available as of 8/11),
Rodeway Inn
($47, still available as of 8/11), and
Hastings Express Inn
($54, still available as of 8/11).
Hotels available Monday night in Grand Island, about 25 miles away, include
Days Inn Grand Island I-80 ($140),
Comfort Inn
($112), and
Island Inn
($54).
Update (Aug. 9): Some of the following hotels are now booked, but most still have rooms available. The following Omaha hotels have rooms available Sunday night, August
20, under $200:
Country Inn & Suites By Carlson Omaha Airport ($101),
Magnolia Hotel Omaha
($148, use coupon code
TRAVEL8),
Courtyard by Marriott Omaha Downtown
($131),
Holiday Inn Express & Suites Omaha South - Ralston Arena
($150),
Hotel Deco XV
($233).
The following Omaha hotels have rooms available Sunday night, August
20, under $100:
Super 8 Fremont NE ($51),
Motel 6 Omaha
($54),
Econo Lodge West Dodge
($60),
Sleep Inn & Suites Airport
($67),
Hotel RL by Red Lion Omaha
($85),
Comfort Suites Omaha
($72).
Staying in Omaha is probably preferable, since crossing the Missouri
River into Nebraska might be a possible traffic bottleneck on Monday
morning as visitors pour into the state to view the eclipse. But if Omaha
hotels fill up, you can stay at one of these Council Bluffs hotels and
allow additional time for the drive. The following Council Bluffs hotels have rooms available for Sunday
night:
Quality Inn & Suites ($55),
Days Inn Counbluff Ia 9th Avenue
($59), and
Econo Lodge West Dodge
($60).
Admittedly, for lawyers from Minnesota and Iowa, this seems to be a lot of driving just to see a few minutes of darkness in the midday. But you won't be the first lawyer to make the trip. In 1878, New York attorney Addison Brown, later Judge of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, traveled to Colorado to observe a total eclipse. In addition to his work as an amateur astronomer, Judge Brown was a noted botanist. His observations of the 1878 eclipse were published by the Naval Observatory in 1880.
Brown first notes that his telescope "arrived uninjured after its journey of 2000 miles," and then laments that during the week previous to the eclipse, his bodily indisposition prevented his performing a fair share of the preliminary work of his team's mountain encampment at an elevation of 9000 feet. Nonetheless, Brown kept the chronometer properly set, relying upon a coleague at Central City, CO, which had telegraphic communication with Washington in order to receive daily time signals from the Naval Observatory.
Brown apparently overcame his altitude sickness and was in camp the day of the eclipse on July 29, 1878. He noted that "the only disadvantage of the elevated station was its exposure to the high southerly and westerly winds which prevailed. On the morning of the eclipse, warned by the furious gale of the day previous, which nearly carried away our encampment, the telescope was removed to the partial shelter at the rear of our extemporized observatory, where comparative quiet was secured. In other respects, the day was faultless; the atmosphere was clear and brilliant, and the few fleecy clouds that appeared after noon offered no obstruction to our work."
To ensure that his eyes would adjust to having good night vision at the moment of totality, Brown bound a bandage around his eyes five minutes before totality. Upon totality, he removed the bandage, allowing him to make his description of the corona. Brown notes that, to his surprise, "the light was sufficient to read the print of the New York Tribune's editorials without difficulty." He described the corona as having a yellowish hue, rather than the "pearly white" he had expected.
After ten seconds' observation of the corona, Brown turned his attention to the horizon, which was a "gorgeous glow of orange-yellow light, with scarcely any red intermingled." The wind, which had been strong before the eclipse, gradually lessened as totality approached. By the time of totality, it was hushed to nearly a perfect calm.
After observing the horizon for but a few precious seconds, Brown returned to his telescope, where he made more observations of the corona, the sketches of which were included in his accounts.
Judge Brown didn't have a mandatory CLE requirement to worry about in 1878. But he transported his telescope 2000 miles, fought altitude sickness, and even had to worry about the clock that we take for granted today. All you'll need to do is make a leisurely drive to Nebraska and stay in two nice hotels. You'll even get a nice pair of cardboard glasses which will negate the need to bandage your eyes. In exchange, you'll get a once in a lifetime experience for you and your family. And you'll take care of five CLE credits. I'm sure Judge Brown would tell you that it's well worth it.
