by Scott McClallen
The Minnesota Supreme Court on Tuesday granted a petition that will ease regulatory burdens on lawyers by doubling the amount of on-demand continuing legal education (CLE) credits that are accepted.
Every three years, attorneys in Minnesota need to finish 45 credit hours of CLE courses to maintain their licenses but previously capped on-demand credit hours at 15, although some lawyers argue they are more convenient, relevant, affordable and numerous than in-person CLEs.
Although the petition was first filed by the libertarian-leaning Institute for Justice (IJ) and lawyers from four other firms in August 2019, as the Minnesota Supreme Court noted, “access to legal programming and legal services has changed substantially,” with the cap temporarily suspended amid the COVID-19 pandemic starting on March 18, 2020.
Under Tuesday’s order, the CLE cap will be doubled to 30 credit hours starting with lawyers whose reporting period starts on July 1, 2021, and will be eliminated starting the first reporting period after July 1, 2024.
“Based on our inherent authority to regulate the practice of law, we conclude that the petition should be granted, but the transition to unlimited on-demand CLE reporting will be phased in over three years and will be subject to consideration whether to retain a lower limit for on-demand CLE credits if a showing of good cause to do so is made as set forth below,” the court wrote.
While some critics have argued on-demand CLE classes are inferior to in-person classes, the court saw “no reason to expect a decline in the state of Minnesota CLE’s system simply because 100 percent of credit hours can be secured in one format – on demand programming – rather than another format, i.e., live programming.”
“The court’s decision eventually will allow all Minnesota attorneys, particularly those working in out-state Minnesota, more flexibility in how they earn CLE credits,” IJ Attorney Jaimie Cavanaugh said in a statement. “Over the last nine months, most of the legal profession has been forced to meet the demands on their clients by working remotely. It’s fitting that attorneys finally will be allowed to meet all their CLE credits online and on-demand too.”
Paul Loraas, attorney shareholder of Fryberger, Buchanan, Smith & Frederick, P.A., previously told The Center Square that expanding the on-demand CLE courses gives attorneys flexibility.
Under Tuesday’s order, the CLE cap will be doubled to 30 credit hours starting with lawyers whose reporting period starts on July 1, 2021, and will be eliminated starting the first reporting period after July 1, 2024.
“Based on our inherent authority to regulate the practice of law, we conclude that the petition should be granted, but the transition to unlimited on-demand CLE reporting will be phased in over three years and will be subject to consideration whether to retain a lower limit for on-demand CLE credits if a showing of good cause to do so is made as set forth below,” the court wrote.
While some critics have argued on-demand CLE classes are inferior to in-person classes, the court saw “no reason to expect a decline in the state of Minnesota CLE’s system simply because 100 percent of credit hours can be secured in one format – on demand programming – rather than another format, i.e., live programming.”
“The court’s decision eventually will allow all Minnesota attorneys, particularly those working in out-state Minnesota, more flexibility in how they earn CLE credits,” IJ Attorney Jaimie Cavanaugh said in a statement. “Over the last nine months, most of the legal profession has been forced to meet the demands on their clients by working remotely. It’s fitting that attorneys finally will be allowed to meet all their CLE credits online and on-demand too.”
Paul Loraas, attorney shareholder of Fryberger, Buchanan, Smith & Frederick, P.A., previously told The Center Square that expanding the on-demand CLE courses gives attorneys flexibility.
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Scott McClallen is a staff writer covering Michigan and Minnesota for The Center Square. A graduate of Hillsdale College, his work has appeared on Forbes.com and FEE.org.
Photo “Minnesota Judicial Center” by Jonathunder CC3.0.
