DeanWuBlog

ICLE

You may be interested to know about continuing legal education (CLE). While as students you are engaged in your formal legal education, it is the perfect opportunity for cultivating the life-long learner’s habits of mind. Once you have become members of the bar, you will find that your practices are more fulfilling if you are constantly challenged to develop new skill sets.

We enjoy an excellent relationship with an organization we co-founded, the non-profit Institute for Continuing Legal Education (ICLE, sometimes pronounced as an acronym and sometimes spelled out by letters). In 1959, our Law School, along with University of Michigan Law School and the State Bar of Michigan, founded ICLE to provide continuing legal education. Our former Dean (1987-1992) John Reed was the first Executive Director of ICLE, which is formally housed within University of Michigan and located in Ann Arbor. As a founding sponsor, we have four seats on the ICLE Executive Committee, which serves in effect as its governing board. Since 1959, the other law schools in Michigan have become sponsors, but they are limited to one seat on the ICLE Executive Committee. (There is an exception to the participation of other law schools. As of last year, MSU ceased to be a sponsor, and instead it offers its own competing CLE programming.)

ICLE has become nationally known as a leader, not only for its courses but also for its numerous practitioner-oriented publications and its extensive digital programming (including a Michigan legal database that equals or exceeds what is available through Lexis and Westlaw). In a jurisdiction that does not mandate CLE, ICLE also has flourished and enjoys an excellent customer base among the bench and the bar. Many of our alumni, and some of our faculty, have served or currently serve as ICLE lecturers and authors.

I serve as Chair of the ICLE Executive Committee; this position rotates among the three founding sponsors on an annual basis. I have designated Professors Laura Bartell, Bill Burnham, and Noah Hall as our other representatives. The Executive Director of ICLE is Lynn Chard, Esq. Information about ICLE may be found at www.icle.org.

We derive several benefits from our relationship with ICLE. Our law library receives a free copy of all ICLE books, along with the annual updates to those books. Law students may attend ICLE partnership seminars (standard half-day and full-day seminars) for $25.00. Law students who wish to attend ICLE Institutes or hands-on skills training, pay one-half the lowest advertised price (usually the new lawyer rate). Ms. Chard advises me that “these student rates are not listed on ICLE’s brochures or on the web site. It is best to call ICLE to register. Indicate that you are a law student and wish to take advantage of the law student rate.”