Board of Bar Examiners extends CLE reporting deadline to March 2
Dec. 4, 2008 – The Board of Bar Examiners (BBE) announced in
early December that Wisconsin lawyers who must report their CLE credits
this year have an additional month to do so. Lawyers admitted to
practice in even-numbered years must file this reporting period.*
While CLE credits still must be earned by Dec. 31, the BBE has extended
the filing date to March 2 due to time considerations in the course
approval process. BBE Chair Jim Morrison said that a hiring freeze has
left his agency shorthanded in the wave of CLE reports arriving this
time of year. The extended deadline will ease the crunch, he said.
Morrison encourages members to try the BBE’s new electronic filing
system and give feedback to assist with development of a
user-friendly system. Currently, the system is not 100 percent
electronic as it requires lawyers to submit a paper copy to the BBE.
Reporting can still be done by traditional paper
forms available from the BBE
website. Morrison said that any questions concerning CLE reporting
can be directed to the BBE at (608) 266-9760.
In the upcoming year, Morrison said that the BBE “will do a
top-down review of the CLE reporting and approval process.”
Morrison said that improving the approval process of CLE courses will be
among the issues for review. Currently, lawyers may take a course only
to find out later that it has not been approved for all or part of the
anticipated credits. “It’s frustrating for lawyers and we
want to look at that problem,” he said.
Morrison said lawyers benefit from these reviews of CLE processes. For
example, the supreme court approved CLE credit for online courses in
2007. Of course, Morrison said, the inclusion of ondemand courses has
significantly increased the administrative burden on the BBE.
*Lawyers admitted in 2008 do not have to report until 2010.
Read
a letter from Jim Morrison.
By Alex De Grand, Legal
Writer, State Bar of Wisconsin
