Cle Top Priority for MSBA President
MICPEL goes high-tech
By Janet Stidman Eveleth
Continuing legal
education is one of MSBA President Edward J. Gilliss' top priorities this year,
and a fitting tribute to the Maryland Institute of Continuing Professional
Education of Lawyers (MICPEL) as it celebrates 30 years of service to Maryland
lawyers in the next 12 months. Gilliss characterizes MICPEL, MSBA's legal
education arm, as "a valuable continuing legal education (CLE) resource for all
Maryland lawyers." In the coming year, he plans to strengthen this resource by
advancing technology "to better connect MICPEL's CLE opportunities with Maryland
lawyers."
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Soon, lawyers on
treadmills and
lawyers at traffic lights
could be listening to
CLE lectures on issues
such as mechanics'
liens and securities
regulations.
Edward J. Gilliss
MSBA President |
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"Today MSBA members, as
consumers of CLE, are beginning to expect legal content to be available in
various electronic formats," explains Gilliss. "MICPEL does a great job of
encouraging practitioners to share expertise with others in the Bar by preparing
oral and written materials; it should also ensure its information gets to all
attorneys who will benefit from it. Therefore, MICPEL must take advantage of new
technologies now available for the delivery of content."
Under Gilliss'
leadership, MSBA will help MICPEL capitalize on new technology to support the
Association's busy practitioners who must juggle law practice requirements with
time for family, community activities and CLE programs. To ease the "time
commitment" burden on multi-tasking attorneys and help them use their time more
efficiently while bettering their skills, Gilliss wants to expedite MICPEL's CLE
"content delivery through new technology, including podcasts and other
electronic formats."
To oversee this undertaking, Gilliss has created a Special MSBA/MICPEL Task
Force, chaired by Michael D. Oliver, and asked it to explore the high-tech CLE
frontier. “The mission of the task force is to have MSBA, as the consumer of
continuing legal education, work hand-in-hand with MICPEL, as the provider of
CLE, to ensure that both entities achieve their desired goals,” reports MSBA’s
President.
In 1976, MICPEL was
created by MSBA and the University of Baltimore and University of Maryland
Schools of Law to consolidate the state's CLE efforts into one non-profit,
independent agency. "MICPEL is a partnership between our two law schools and
MSBA," reports Gilliss; hence, representatives from all three partners will be
involved in the Task Force. "Together, MSBA and the law schools are
MICPEL."
MSBA's President has
directed the Task Force to "explore some kind of web-based methodology so that
lawyers from distant parts of the state can meet, almost in a live format, and
broaden CLE opportunities for all Maryland lawyers." Gilliss is encouraging
MICPEL to "move toward a web-based platform to give MSBA members the added
option of downloading seminar materials in podcast fashion to iPods across
Maryland."
"Podcasts will be one
more tool to aid lawyers in managing their time," explains Gilliss. He envisions
the "availability of CLE seminar materials via web-based meetings and podcasts
so lawyers can download the information onto their iPods or MP3 players and
listen at their convenience. Soon, lawyers on treadmills and lawyers at traffic
lights could be listening to CLE lectures on issues such as mechanics' liens and
securities regulations."
MSBA's President also
reinforces his strong support for "face-to-face contact between lawyers because
personal contacts are very important to lawyers and the legal profession."
MICPEL's traditional CLE programs will continue to flourish. "Interaction in
MICPEL classrooms is valuable because it builds relationships," stresses
Gilliss.
However, he adds, "for
our Bar to benefit from the participation of lawyers from all corners of our
state, we also need to find ways for real-time interaction without travel-time
burdens, which occur in some jurisdictions. Lawyers might travel three or more
hours to reach MSBA headquarters or to attend a MICPEL seminar. Web-based
technology offers a vehicle to our members to have real-time contact and
interaction."
"All lawyers are swift
to agree that CLE is an important component of the practice of law," concludes
MSBA's President. "MICPEL is and should continue to be the first place Maryland
lawyers turn when seeking CLE. My hope is that MSBA members will take advantage
of MICPEL's excellent course offerings and written materials even more often
when they are made available in various electronic formats."
