Interesting CLE Facts

January 30th, 2013 | Posted by cilliano in Education | Law | Lawyer | Marino Legal - (0 Comments)

online cleWe have discussed online CLE at length on this blog, examining its benefits, workings and where best to find quality CLE courses at affordable prices, but perhaps it is time to go back to basics. What exactly is CLE?

Continuing legal education, or CLE, is professional education of lawyers that takes place after the lawyer’s initial admission to the bar. As we have previously mentioned, many states in the U.S. require CLE participation of attorneys in order for them to maintain their license to practice law. In the U.S., CLE accreditation is given on a state-by-state basis. There is no nationwide accreditation since CLE programs are administered by the state supreme courts through special CLE Commissions or Boards.

Interestingly, the state of Kentucky allows all licensed attorneys in the state to fulfill their CLE requirement without paying a registration fee as part of a two-day program known as Kentucky Law Update. This unique program is offered annually in at least seven locations throughout the state.

More experienced attorneys are sometimes entitled to receive credit for speaking or teaching at an accredited CLE program; for moderating or participating in a panel presentation at an accredited CLE activity, for teaching law courses at an American Bar Association-accredited law school as well as for participating in several other courses and activities.

To learn more about the specifics of New York continuing legal education, consult the leading providers of both ‘bridge the gap‘ and veteran-appropriate CLE courses, Marino Legal.

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Examining New York CLE Requirements

January 23rd, 2013 | Posted by cilliano in Education | Law | Lawyer | Legal Assistance | Marino Legal - (0 Comments)

NY continuing legal educationFully grasping the ins and outs of New York continuing legal education can prove testing at times. As a navigation aid, this post will address credits, courses and New York-centric requirements as they relate to newly admitted attorneys.

New York-based newly admitted attorneys, take note – 16 transitional credits must be completed in each of your first two years of admission (a total of 32). Of these 16 credits, 3 must be in Ethics, 6 must be in Skills and 7 must be in Professional Practice or Practice Management. That is to say, newly admitted attorneys must fulfill their continuing legal education requirement by taking accredited transitional NY continuing legal education courses or programs in traditional live classroom settings or through the attendance of fully interactive video conferences, where the video conference technology has been approved by the CLE Board for use by newly admitted attorneys.

Some important points to note with regard to NY legislation are that your CLE deadline is measured from the date of your admission, and that New York is a self-reporting jurisdiction. Newly admitted attorneys within this self-reporting jurisdiction must certify along with the submission of his or her biennial attorney registration statement that the attorney has satisfactorily completed 32 credit hours of transitional continuing legal education. The attorney must also certify that he or she has retained the Certificates of Attendance or other documentation required by the CLE board.

Fortunately, Marino Legal offers a convenient solution to completing CLE requirements. Entitled ‘Bridge the Gap‘ courses, these weekend courses are designed to save you money and time in complying with NY state law.

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Bridging the Gap

January 16th, 2013 | Posted by cilliano in Education | Law | Lawyer | Marino Legal - (0 Comments)

new york cleReceiving news that you have successfully passed your bar exams and are legally qualified to practice as an attorney is a joyous experience. However, this time can also be disorienting and somewhat intimidating as you attempt to transition from education to practice.

At Marino Legal, we have been educating attorneys since 1946 and know well the challenges faced by newly admitted attorneys. Having witnessed the confusion experienced by many new attorneys, we introduced our ‘bridge the gap’ New York CLE – a series of live lectures offered to newly admitted attorneys in New York and New Jersey, intended to aid attorneys in applying the vast knowledge they gained while studying.

Our ‘Bridge the Gap’ weekends are designed to satisfy a full year of New York newly admitted CLE credits, i.e. 3.0 Ethics CLE credits, 6.0 Skills CLE credits and 7.0 Professional Practice CLE credits, allowing you to acquire the wherewithal to practice as an attorney without having to sacrifice excessive amounts of money and time. If you cannot manage to schedule an entire weekend for your ‘Bridge the Gap’ course, then simply attend one day of one weekend, and complete your course by attending another day of another weekend course that suits your schedule.

At just $350 for a complete weekend, Marino Legal, the New York continuing legal education specialists, offer the leading ‘bridge the gap’ package for newly admitted attorneys eager to begin making their mark.

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Getting Started as an Attorney in the New Year

January 8th, 2013 | Posted by cilliano in Education | Law | Lawyer | Marino Legal - (0 Comments)

New York continuing legal educationWill you be getting qualified to practice as an attorney in 2013?

If so, our 24-credit Getting Started package comes highly recommended. The 24-credit Getting Started package is perfectly suited to new attorneys, attorneys establishing a general practice or those attorneys who are simply in need of a refresher course in order to ensure continued familiarity with the most recent NY legal developments. This package covers a broad range of legal areas including matrimonial law, estates and trusts, bankruptcy and litigation. Courses offered include ‘E-Litigation for Dummies’, ‘Ending with a Bang: The Art of the Perfect Closing’, as well as ‘Winning Evidence: Techniques and Strategies in Personal Injury and Medical Malpractice Cases’.

At Marino Legal we pride ourselves on delivering exceptional New York continuing legal education at affordable prices; that’s why the 24-credit Getting Started package is currently offered at just $399, allowing you to save 49%. For those who prefer to pick and choose courses based on their own strengths and weaknesses, we offer a Custom Package service which allows attorneys to choose a la carte the courses most relevant to them. Simply choose whether you want a 6-, 8-, 12- or 24-hour package and then add courses as you see fit. Practically every course you need as part of your New York CLE is offered, from criminal to family law, civil and corporate law to ethics.

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Drunk Driving Laws in Time for New Year’s Eve

December 27th, 2012 | Posted by TimD in Education | Law | Lawyer | Legal Assistance - (0 Comments)

ny continuing legal educationWith the holidays in full swing, there is a lot to be positively reflective about as the year comes to a close. There is also a number of parties that you are surely invited to. When the amount of parties is this high, the likelihood that someone will be injured or killed in a drunk driving accident goes up exponentially.

If you work in law, chances are you have landed on one side or the other in a case of driving under the influence or driving while intoxicated. The laws surrounding these crimes are very clear state to state and for most states, enforcing these laws takes even stronger priority around the holidays. In some cases your automobile might be taken away by the state if you are caught driving under the influence. If there is an accident, things become still even more complicated.

NY continuing legal education from Marino Legal can go over some of the specifics of local laws, as well as these laws’ effectiveness in driving down the cases of drunk driving. With the right New York CLE, you can learn the ins and outs of local laws.

No matter how strong or lenient the laws are in your area, we encourage you to drive responsibly this holiday season.

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Looking at Legislation Around Firearms

December 18th, 2012 | Posted by TimD in Education | Law | Lawyer | Legal Assistance | Marino Legal - (0 Comments)

continuing legal education in nyIn the wake of last week’s tragedy in Connecticut, many elected officials are considering legislation on both gun control and building better systems for dealing with the sort of mental instability that leads to these tragedies. There are many ideas being put into play, among them stricter restrictions on handguns, lowering legal sizes of weapons’ magazines, and increased background checks for all firearms. By and large, it is seen as politically impossible to get many of these pieces of legislation through Congress, but there are two options that seem destined to shape the continuing legal education in NY and beyond.

The first option is a newer, stronger version of the Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act, or “the Brady Bill.” When it was first adopted in 1994, this bill made it far more difficult for anyone with a history of mental illness or various other concerns to purchase a handgun. This resulted in nearly 1.9 million blocks in handgun licenses between the years of 1994 and 2009.

The second, and likely more immediately actionable, piece of the puzzle is reinstating the Assault Weapons Ban which ended in 2004. Several senators have indicated they might flip positions on this legislation after the recent spate of shootings. This all highlights the need to be attentive, not just to the latest laws, but even some older ones that have seemingly been dead for a long time.

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Supreme Court to Hear Same-Sex Marriage Arguments

December 11th, 2012 | Posted by TimD in Education | Law | Lawyer | Legal Assistance | Marino Legal - (0 Comments)

As of last week, it was revealed the Supreme Court would hear a case challenging California’s same-sex marriage ban in the coming year. This is a huge move for our country and a historic moment for both opponents and proponents of same-sex marriage. It might just set the table for how the rest of the country moves on this issue.

It was widely expected that the SCOTUS would be forced to wrestle with the issue of same-sex marriage–with more and more cases being brought against the exclusionary legislation that has been recently passed over. Of course when California passed their same-sex marriage ban, it seemed they would inevitably be the state to bring the law to our country’s highest court. In spite of passing the law, California remains a deeply liberal state, with San Fransisco and Los Angeles being among the most liberal cities in the country.

Where will this lead legal precedent is probably still anyone’s guess. The Supreme Court has been known to surprise, but at this point signs point strongly towards the court ruling the law unconstitutional.

Want a refresher on what exactly makes a law constitutional? Keep your eyes on Marino Legal for coming NY continuing legal education lectures and courses on constitutional law.

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Getting Leverage with CLE

December 5th, 2012 | Posted by TimD in Education | Law | Lawyer - (0 Comments)

There are many ways to have leverage in negotiations. As a lawyer, quite a few of these circumstances are outside of your control. The circumstances surrounding a certain case or even certain laws that a case deals with generally set most of the parameters for leverage. Still, as a lawyer you can create your own leverage when you present a case. The best way to be in control of the leverage is to understand as much as you can about the case.

Understanding cases comes from directly engaging with clients, witnesses and evidence–this much is clear. What is less clear is how simply keeping yourself sharp through various New York CLE programs, or even online CLE, can help you build a case.

Through improved understanding of the surrounding issues, you can apply the information about your current situation in a variety of ways. Seeing those angles is why seeking out expertise through lectures, web seminars and more New York continuing legal education is so vitally important. There is no other way to adept with the law than studiously disseminating the details of the law in question and laws in general.

Getting leverage in a negotiation is key. You can win without it of course, but why would you try?

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Building Codes Post Hurricane Sandy

November 27th, 2012 | Posted by TimD in Education | Law | Lawyer | Legal Assistance - (0 Comments)

The evolution of laws happens in a variety of ways for a wealth of reasons. Sometimes, as discussed last week, it is simply the collective changing of our social acceptance. In other cases there is a quick change that requires people to rethink the way things were done. This is happening throughout the hardest hit areas of New York post-Hurricane Sandy.

In every area touched by the hurricane a reality is setting in that weather patterns are likely to leave many of these areas susceptible to more hurricanes in the future. As a result legal building codes and zoning for housing and businesses are likely to change. For legal aides to the city, state, and federal government, as well as personal lawyers to home and business owners, this is likely to make for a complex rethinking of standards for buildings and so much more.

If you are a lawyer looking to help victims or help the city with recovery a refresher on laws surrounding building safety and insurance policy are worth boning up on. Some online CLE or some other form of New York continuing legal education will helpfully bolster your credentials in these very nuanced and complex areas of law.

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Same-Sex Marriage and Legal Marijuana, A National Trend?

November 19th, 2012 | Posted by TimD in Education | Law | Lawyer - (0 Comments)

Back on November 6th Americans chose more than just their president. In several states voters were in favor of laws that are potential game changers in their states and far beyond. In Colorado and Washington state voters were in favor of legalized marijuana. Not medical marijuana mind you the full on legalization of marijuana. Throughout the country laws have been moving to decriminalize the drug or license it for medical use but these measures were unprecedented in the United States. In another development same sex marriage was legalized in Maine, Maryland and Washington by popular vote.

While neither of these advances in social liberalism should affect your New York CLE courses just yet they are worth watching out for. As these laws are implemented in these states the entire country will likely do some soul searching. Particularly in left leaning New York, where same sex marriage is already legal, the legalization of marijuana might begin to look quite appealing to cash strapped government officials.

If you are taking online CLE or other forms of continuing legal education to maintain certification as a lawyer you should not just monitor laws in your own state. Laws in other states often result in trends that can spread quickly throughout the country.

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