A Note on Online Free CLE

Tell me if this has ever happened to you.

Your CLE compliance deadline is a couple of weeks, or even days, away, and you’re short just a few hours of required CLE credit. Either you don’t need enough to justify the hundreds of dollars to purchase a bundle or seminar, or the bundles you’ve found that you can justify the expense for do not have content that fits your interests/needs.* When I looked around in late 2012, there weren’t a whole lot of options for free accredited CLE. Pretty much only a couple of “try one class for free when you sign up” kind of deals, and one 0.75 hour credit for the Texas Bar’s introduction to its complimentary research system. Which is excellent, but it’s not a very efficient if you need more than a few hours.

The situation has changed in the last year, at least from my point of view as I’ve raced to top up my CLE credits to maintain my College of the State Bar of Texas membership. There seems to be a lot more quality free CLE out there, and not just of the “free trial” variety–though there’s noticeably more of that, too, and that’s a good thing. I’ve listed some resources to get you started below. If I list something, I used it, and it was free.

• 4FreeCLE: This blog is magnificent. It doesn’t actually provide any free CLE. What it does provide are state-by-state indexes of free CLE programs, both online and live on-location events in various locations. This is a fantastic resource. It appears to be frequently updated and lists CLEs from a variety of sources covering a variety of topics. Start here.
• LexVid Continuing Professional Education: This is an interesting service. It’s still in beta (I think), but already up and running and offering CLE. It covers a variety of topics, and offers a full five free hours of CLE when you sign up. After that, it’s $99/year for unlimited CLE programs after that. I think this is a great deal: $99.00 for as much CLE as you want, picking the presentations you want and not just getting a random bundle. I already used my five free hours to close out this year, trying four different programs. The presentations were law-focused and informative. Video and speaker quality, of course, varied from presentation to presentation, but since they’re all being done in different locations by different people, that’s to be expected. Overall the presentations were very satisfying. The user interface feels newer and more advanced than some of the other sites I’ve used, as well. The only drawback is that every five minutes you’re required to click a “Yes, I’m still here” button to keep going. I’m pretty sure some states require this, but I don’t think Texas does–I’ve never seen it before. You’ll have to stay close to whatever’s playing the video–no going across the room to lounge on the couch and take notes. 😛 I also wish presentation slides were more consistently available for download, but I’m hoping that improves as the service matures. Finally, customer service is excellent. I had a tech support question this morning and sent an email, and had a response within two hours. It’s the day before Christmas Eve, so I was impressed.
• MCLEz: This site offers state-approved bundles in various subject areas, as well as frequent sales on low-budget compliance bundles (e.g.: $50 for a random grab bag of CLE that will be enough to satisfy your state’s requirements). They offer one free CLE program on sign-up, chosen from a list. MCLEz also does a good job of making all PPT slides and handouts downloadable–LexVid always includes handouts but not always slides. Since some of these free programs are 2 hours or more long, it’s worth getting a free account to try out, even if you don’t anticipate buying a bundle any time soon.
• National Academy of Continuing Legal Education: This site is very similar to MCLEz, and gives 1 free credit hour class for sign up. No purchase required.
• Your State Bar: Check your state bar’s website for free CLE programs as well.
  • TexasBarCLE Free Programs: Only one of these gives CLE credit (0.75 hours at this writing), but they’re all interesting, especially for new attorneys.
  • If your state has an e-filing system or your state bar provides a complementary research system (something like CaseMaker or FastCase), there may also be CLEs on how to use these. ProDoc (Texas CLE only) and CaseFileXpress are e-filing services that both offer accredited CLE training in using their systems. I’ve only done the ProDoc training so far, but I’m planning to check out the CaseFileXpress materials soon.
• Pro Bono/Legal Aid CLEs: Organizations that provide pro bono legal services will sometimes offer free CLE programs (programs that otherwise might cost hundreds of dollars) in exchange for your agreement to take on a pro-bono case under the supervision of a mentor attorney, within the next six months to a year. I’ve done this and it was a great experience: I learned a lot and got to do some very satisfying public service in the process. I went through the Dallas Volunteer Attorney Program, which provides live CLE programs, usually at the Belo Mansion in Dallas, where the Dallas Bar is located. (If you’re interested in these CLE programs but aren’t able to volunteer right now, usually you can take the class for a fee.)
• Google: More free CLE programs are coming online all the time. If you’re not finding what you need, just stick your state and the phrase “free CLE” into Google and start going down the list. I try this every once in a while and am usually surprised by what pops up.

Good luck, and Merry Christmas.

* This is a major reason I try to avoid CLE bundles if I can. Yes, you can save money (and in some cases, get some really great deals), but you’re stuck with whatever you’re given. Half of those CLEs (or more) may be completely irrelevant to your practice, and lecturer quality may be hit or miss. And you’ve got to listen to them all, because otherwise you’ve wasted money. All that said, if you’re just trying to get hours and need a lot of them, and don’t care about the topics, the budget bundles can’t be beat.