Richard Clem Continuing Legal Education
CLE Video Replays: Wednesday, December 7, 2011

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

Wednesday, December 7, 2011
8:50 AM - 4:40 PM
Community Meeting Room
Lower Level, Como Lakeside Pavilion
1360 North Lexington Parkway
St. Paul, Minnesota 55103

To help out any Wisconsin attorneys who need to complete their CLE requirement by December 31, or Minnesota attorneys who want to get some credits out of the way at a very reasonable price, I'm offering a number of video replays in St. Paul on Wednesday, December 7. These programs include Ethics and Elimination of bias credits. The cost is only $70 for as many credits as you want. If you attend the full program, that's only $10 per credit. If you can't attend the full day, you may attend any four hours for only $50. Pre-registration is required for most of these programs, although you may pay by check at the door.

CLE Credit has been approved/applied for as follows: Minnesota: credit has been approved for each individual program as shown below. Wisconsin: 8.5 credits have been applied for under the title "December Video Replays" including ethics and professional responsibility credits as shown below.

Registration will open at 8:45 AM, and there will be opening remarks at 8:55 AM. The program will begin promptly at 9:00.

Nuts and Bolts of Minnesota Appellate Practice. For the attorney unexpectedly faced with a case before the Minnesota Court of Appeals, it can be a daunting challenge. While the Minnesota Rules of Appellate Procedure are not onerous, they do impose requirements that might be very different from what the trial attorney is used to. In some cases, seemingly innocent violations of these rules can be disastrous. We’ll walk through the rules and give practical guidance on how to file a notice of appeal, how to order a transcript, how to write and assemble a brief, and even what color the brief’s cover needs to be, and how it should be bound. This course will put you at ease if you are ever required to file an appeal, or if the opposing party files an appeal in a case in which you prevailed. The course materials include detailed forms and checklists, and references to the rules. Two hours, five minutes.

Ethics Refresher 2011 (Parts 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 part of a longer six-hour program, the first half of which is presented on various dates. One hour each segment.

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.

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.

Minnesota Supreme Court: March-April 2011 Decisions. This program will review the decisions of the Minnesota Supreme Court handed down during March and April, 2011. Topics include: Zoning ordinance modifying Rochester airport "safety zone" constitutes a taking since diminution in value of adjoining property was substantial. A mutual mistake of material fact does not warrant recision of the contract when the mistake is to mere value--even though the contract accidentally included two parcels of land worth twice the value of the contract. When consent is at issue, the court may receive expert testimony as to the typical behavior of sexual assault victims. We'll also look at when property is "acquired" by a tax-exempt entity so as to exempt the property from taxation. Finally, we'll take a look at the court's reluctant order of March 9 continuing the "temporary" $100 increase on Minnesota Attorney Registration fees. One hour.

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).

Minnesota and Wisconsin CLE credit has been applied for as shown on the table above.

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 caf 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 $70 for the full program, or $50 for up to four credits. 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. From the drop-down menu, please select the number of credit(s) you will be attending. In the comment field (or in a separate e-mail), please let me know which part(s) of the program you plan to attend.

Please select number of credits:

Up to 4 hours $50.00 USD Complete Program $70.00 USD

Please specify program(s)

If you have any questions, please e-mail me at clem.law@usa.net or call me at 612-378-7751.