Richard Clem Continuing Legal
EducationRichard Clem Continuing Legal
EducationRichard Clem Continuing Legal Education
High quality, reasonably priced CLE opportunities
On August 28, 2020, the Iowa Supreme Court made changes to the Iowa Continuing Legal Education rules. First of all, the limit on "unmoderated" CLE hours has been permanently removed. Going forward, Iowa attorneys may, if they wish, complete their entire CLE requirement with "on demand" programs rather than attending live programs.
The other big change relates to the ethics requirement. The old "ethics bienium" is gone, and Iowa attorneys must earn one credit of ethics every calendar year. In addition, Iowa attorneys must earn one credit in one of two categories. This can be either "attorney wellness" or "diversity and inclusion." (For full information on the changes, see the frequently asked questions at the Iowa court website.
The course on this page has been approved for Iowa "diversity and inclusion" credit. Minnesota has had a similar "elimination of bias" requirement for a number of years for courses "designed to educate attorneys to identify and eliminate from the legal profession and from the practice of law biases against persons because of race, gender, economic status, creed, color, religion, national origin, disability, age or sexual orientation." I have presented this program for several years, and the program being offered here was recorded on June 26-27, 2018. (If you are taking this course for Minnesota credit, please register at the page for the Minnesota course. If you need credit in both Minnesota and Iowa, please contact me for the most efficient way to receive credit in both states.)
The Iowa requirement is similar, that the course must relate to "the impact of race, sex, gender, religion, national origin, ethnicity, disability, age, sexual orientation, marital status, socioeconomic status, or political affiliation on court system interaction or case or controversy outcome, and professional relationships between attorneys, judges, and clients where race, sex, gender, religion, national origin, ethnicity, disability, age, sexual orientation, marital status, socioeconomic status, or political affiliation is a potential factor." Therefore, I am now offering this program for Iowa credit. Two diversity and inclusion credits have been applied for. Since you only need one credit, you can apply the second credit toward your general 15 hour requirement.
I don't currently offer any attorney wellness courses. However, since the new requirement requires either wellness or diversity, this is not required. The course on this page will satisfy the new requirement. If you are looking specifically for a course in attorney wellness, the Minnesota State Law Library has a number of free courses that appear to be within this category. While I don't know if they are approved in Iowa, they appear to be eligible for credit, and I would recommend taking one of these excellent classes and submitting it for Iowa CLE credit.
To receive CLE credit, please follow these steps:
If paying online, click the "Pay Now" link below. You will be able to enter the code numbers during the payment process. If you prefer, you can leave this field blank and send the code numbers to me separately.
Upon receipt of your payment, I will send you via e-mail a certificate of attendance. If you don't have an e-mail address, I can send this by U.S. Mail. I process these courses manually, so please allow time for me to respond. I will normally provide your certificate of attendance within 24 hours.
This program runs slightly over two hours. Each part of the program is approximately one hour in length. These programs were originally presented on June 26-27, 2018.
Elimination of Bias. 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 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.
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 several years by the Supreme Court's Committee for Equality and Justice. This course covers material developed at those programs through October, 2017. Originally presented June 26 and 27, 2018. 120 minutes (two parts).
Elimination of Bias Learning Goals
This program is offered for Minnesota Elimination of Bias credit, and meets the learning goals set by the Minnesota Board of Continuing Legal Education. Each segment is sixty continuous minutes, relates 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.
This course has an interactive component in that the course presenter is available by telephone or e-mail for any questions or comments regarding the substantive content of the course. The course presenter may be contacted by telephone at 612-378-7751 or e-mail at clem.law@usa.net. Questions are usually answered within 24 hours. During the course, all attendees must make a note of the code numbers given during the program and submit them by e-mail to the course sponsor. The sponsor provides a certificate of attendance only upon recipt of the code numbers.
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 30 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.
Copyright 2021, Richard P. Clem Continuing Legal Education
PO Box 14957
Minneapolis, MN 55414
612-378-7751