CLE Requirements Using On-Demand Videos in Minnesota (II)
petition details
Petition Name
Petition of Five Licensed Attorneys in re: Changes to the Rule Regulating Quantity of On-demand Continuing Legal Education Course Approval
Attorney
Jaimie Cavanaugh
Date Filed
August 7, 2019
Location
Saint Paul, Minnesota
Lawyers at the Institute for Justice advocate for the end of the protectionism inherent in occupational licensing laws. They don’t overlook their own profession.
Continuing education requirements impose an expensive and often useless cost on licensed practitioners. That’s true for lawyers, real estate brokers, doctors and other licensed workers. IJ and attorneys from four other firms brought this problem directly to the justices of the Minnesota Supreme Court. The justices regulate lawyers and set requirements to earn and maintain a license to practice law in the Land of 10,000 Lakes.
In Minnesota, attorneys must complete 45 hours of continuing legal education (CLE) every three years. On-demand CLEs are more convenient, relevant, affordable and numerous than in-person CLEs and live-webcast CLEs.
The Minnesota Supreme Court granted the petition and ordered to repeal the cap of 15 hours in the triannual reporting cycle. Lawyers are now free to earn all 45 hours of required CLEs from the vast libraries of on-demand classes relevant to their practice.