Report on Activities: Continuing Legal Education in Colorado, Inc
| Jurisdiction | Colorado,United States |
| Citation | Vol. 8 No. 12 Pg. 2382 |
| Pages | 2382 |
| Publication year | 1979 |
1979, December, Pg. 2382. Report on Activities: Continuing Legal Education in Colorado, Inc
For the past seven years, I have been privileged to be the Director of Continuing Legal Education in Colorado, Inc.---your CLE organization. I have, from time to time, issued various oral and written reports concerning the operation of this office. I am pleased to have this opportunity to present to you a comprehensive update on CLE activities, finances and future plans.
More than thirteen years ago, the Colorado Bar Association and the Denver Bar Association and the University of Denver College of Law determined that the operation of an extensive CLE program for the lawyers of this state was just too demanding for a volunteer Bar Association committee. More professional direction, more staff time and more physical resources were necessary to carry out adequately the growing CLE function.
The governance of the day-to-day operation of CLE, Inc., was left to the full-time director, while policy matters and overall responsibility were controlled by a Board of Directors named by the three founding co-sponsors: the Colorado Bar Association, Denver Bar Association and University of Denver College of Law. During the late 1960's and early 1970's, the Colorado Bar Foundation was a co-sponsor. In later years, the University of Colorado School of Law joined, and remains a co-sponsor to this day.
At the time of the Corporation's founding, a document entitled "Memorandum of Understanding" was executed that spelled out the rights, duties and responsibilities of the respective co-sponsors relating to governance, finances, programming and other matters. Although amended a few times since its original signing, the document has served its purposes extremely well. A copy of the current Memorandum of Understanding is available for review at the CLE offices.
Thus, the Committee on Continuing Legal Education in Colorado was formed by those above-named sponsors in December of 1971 and the Committee became a not-for-profit 501(c)(3) corporation with the name Continuing Legal Education in Colorado, Inc.
Since those early days of the corporation, the organization has grown substantially. No clearer indication can be given than to state that when I took over as Director in 1972, our staff consisted of one secretary, one half-time student assistant and myself. At the time of this writing, the office now comprises an
overall director, two assistant directors, a full-time bookkeeper, an office manager, two secretaries, an editorial assistant and various part-time workers. Given the present and projected future demands on the office as a result of mandatory CLE, we are expecting to add additional workers to keep up with our responsibility to provide quality continuing legal education programs and publications to the members of the Bar of Colorado.
The mainstay of our operation continues to be the area of live programming of CLE courses and institutes. We have found that this method of presenting updated or new information about the law in Colorado is the most responsive and efficient method of continuing the education of Colorado attorneys. No one seriously questions the fact that longer term, in-depth, smaller audience programming would be more effective, but given the realities of the number of lawyers in the state and the sheer avalanche of new law and decisions, the institute format is the best compromise. That is not to say we have not conducted in-depth specialty programming; we have, with great success. However, when a major piece of legislation such as the new Probate Code, the Tax Reform Act of 1976 or other similar major legal upheavals take place, we must react and plan a large institute that will quickly alert Colorado attorneys to these significant events.
During the 1978-1979 fiscal year, CLE in Colorado, Inc. sponsored twenty-nine separate live programs. The topics ranged from the routine (Colorado Estate Planning), to the more esoteric (Federally Funded Real Estate). Many people have asked how we select the topics that we choose to program. There are principally three ways we determine our programming. First, we know the major law practice areas and what most practitioners would like to see. Thus, we annually program a Spring Tax Institute for General Practitioners; a Real...
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