The Commission on Continuing Legal Education

Commission on Continuing Legal Education

Judicial Branch Building

1111 East Court Avenue

Des Moines, Iowa 50319

(515) 725-8029

The Commission on Continuing Legal Education administers a program established by the court which requires attorneys to attend legal education classes each year. Lawyers and judges must complete a minimum of 15 hours of legal education accredited by the Commission. The minimum number of legal education hours must include a minimum of three hours every two years, of education devoted exclusively to legal ethics. Hours in excess of the minimum requirements may be carried over subject to specific restrictions. Click here for the Court Rules regulating CLE. This requirement helps ensure that lawyers and judges keep abreast of the latest legal developments.

Rule Changes!

The Court recently adopted several changes in Division III of the Iowa Court Rules, pertaining to various matters within the scope of professional regulation. One key change was the adoption of the majority of a recommendation made by the Commission on CLE a few years ago. Rules 41.3 and 42.1 are affected by the change, which will apply to the new (2012-2013) ethics biennium. As explained in the summary published with the rule change:

In recent years, as many as one-third of the published disciplinary opinions of the Supreme Court have specifically mentioned substance abuse or mental health issues on the part of the respondent. Staff members at the Attorney Disciplinary Board and the Grievance Commission estimate that the majority of founded disciplinary matters in Iowa involve lawyers with a substance abuse issue, a mental health issue, or both. As a preventive measure designed to reduce lawyer discipline matters and harm to clients, the definition of what constitutes legal ethics for purposes of the biennial ethics continuing legal education (CLE) attendance requirement is amended to include instruction specifically designed for lawyers regarding substance abuse and mental health. The biennial ethics attendance requirement is increased from two to three hours. Iowa joins at least seven other states that allow ethics CLE credit for instruction regarding substance abuse or mental health.

The rule change, adopting order and a summary are available here: Rule Change

Basic Skills Course Requirement for Lawyers Admitted by Examination

On October 9, 2009, the Supreme Court adopted a new requirement that all lawyers newly admitted by examination attend a basic skills course on Iowa law. The attendance requirement applies to every lawyer admitted by examination after December 31, 2008. Lawyers admitted by examination in 2010 and future years must complete the course within one year of their actual date of admission. The basic skills course requirement does not apply to lawyers admitted to practice on motion. On November 24, 2010, the Supreme Court amended the basic skills course rule to allow new lawyers to complete the basic skills course during the period between completion of the bar examination and admission to practice.

A copy of the original rule is available here: Rule 41.12

A copy of the November 24, 2010 rule change is available here: Amended Rule 41.12(1)

An approved basic skills course will consist of at least eight hours of instruction on Iowa law, including one hour of ethics, drawn from at least eight of the topic areas specified in the rule. Lawyers who attend the basic skills course are entitled to claim credit against their regular continuing legal education attendance requirements. The course must be reviewed and approved by the Commission on Continuing Legal Education, and the sponsor will be required to track and report attendance to the commission.

A lawyer who fails to attend the required course within the allotted time period may have their right to practice law suspended. The Commission on Continuing Legal Education is authorized to grant individual extensions of time or waivers based on hardship or extenuating circumstances.

As basic skills courses are submitted to the commission and approved, the commission will list them on this web page. Lawyers admitted during 2009 are encouraged to monitor the commission web page and arrange attendance of the basic skills course at the first available opportunity. At this time, the Commission is aware of the following basic skills courses:

Current & Future Courses

On-Demand Webcast Iowa State Bar Association http://iowa.inreachce.com

August 19-20, 2013 Iowa State Bar Association Des Moines, Iowa - For information, call ISBA CLE at 515-697-7874

November 7, 2013 Iowa Association for Justice Des Moines, Iowa - For information, call IAJ at 515-280-7366

Policies on Approval of CLE Events for Credit (Accreditation)

Basic standards on accreditation of CLE events are contained in Rule 42.3:

(1) A continuing legal education activity qualifies for accreditation if the commission determines that the activity complies with all of the following:

a. It constitutes an organized program of learning (including a workshop or symposium) which contributes directly to the professional competency of an attorney.

b. It pertains to common legal subjects or other subject matters which integrally relate to the practice of law.

c. It is conducted by attorneys or individuals who have a special education, training, and experience by reason of which said individuals should be considered experts concerning the subject matter of the program, and preferably is accompanied by a paper, manual, or written outline which substantively pertains to the subject matter of the program.

d. It is presented live or by computer-based transmission. Activities presented by computer-based transmission must be interactive as defined by the accreditation policies of the commission.

(2) No activity will be accredited which involves solely self-study, including television viewing, video or sound recorded programs, or correspondence work, except as may be allowed pursuant to rule 42.5.

In addition, the Commission has adopted policies regarding accreditation of CLE events, based on Rule 42.3 and its experience. Click here for a copy of those policies.

Forms (download a copy)

IMPORTANT NOTE: Accreditation application forms no longer are provided. Lawyers and sponsors should submit applications for accreditation online using their lawyer or sponsor account pages. See the OPR Forms & Tutorials page for instructions.

Application for a Certificate of Exemption. An Iowa-licensed attorney who does NOT in fact practice law in Iowa may apply for a certificate of exemption from CLE requirements, pursuant to rule 42.6 of the Iowa Court Rules. Chapter 42 of the Iowa Court Rules should be carefully examined regarding eligibility and reinstatement requirements before applying for exemption.

Searchable Database of Approved CLE Events: You may perform basic and advanced searches of all the CLE events approved by the Commission at this page on the Professional Regulation Online Services web site: CLE Search Page

Approved CLE Events Conducted During 2012: Download the list in Portable Document Format (PDF) or Excel (XLS) format.

Approved CLE Events Conducted During 2013: Download the list in Portable Document Format (PDF) or Excel (XLS) format.

Commission Members

The commission is composed of twelve members - ten Iowa lawyers and two residents who are not lawyers appointed by the Iowa Supreme Court. Members shall be appointed for a term of three years except when appointed to fill an unexpired term. No member shall serve more than two consecutive complete terms.

Kathleen A. Kleiman, Cedar Rapids, Chair

Laurie K. Doré, Des Moines

The Honorable Myron L. Gookin, Fairfield

Steve Waterman, Osceola

Roberta M. Anderson, Mason City

Paul Feeney, Des Moines

Diana Rolands, Osceola

Loan Hensley, Sioux City

The Honorable Todd Geer, Grundy Center

Werner Hellmer, Dubuque

Meredith Rich-Chappell, Iowa City

Bryan D. Swain, Harlan