3 Online CLE Courses Every Lawyer Should Take in 2022

In recent years, attorneys have had to navigate new and changing legal ethics requirements while adjusting to an increasingly virtual profession. In fact, during the COVID-19 pandemic, law practice became almost completely virtual for attorneys in almost every practice area.

New continuing legal education (CLE) requirements include Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) credit requirements, technology education requirements, and even practice management requirements. At the same time, advancements continue in legal tech and online marketing. And these advancements show no sign of slowing down in 2022.

To help lawyers keep their law firms competitive, we’re hosting live online courses on the most important and quickly developing topics. Below are 3 CLE courses that every lawyer should take in 2022.

Understanding Bias in Law: A 360-Degree View

Format: On Demand

Duration: 1 hour

CLE Credits: Varies, please review your state’s accreditation

Date: Monday, February 27, 2023

Identify Your Blind Spots

Texting, Emails, and Phishing in the Law Firm: Back to Basics

Format: Live Video Webinar

Duration: 3 hours 15 minutes

CLE Credits: Varies, please review your state’s accreditation

Date: Thursday, March 31, 2022

Time: 2:00 pm - 5:15 pm Eastern

Today, although legal technology has improved legal practice in many ways, it has also posed new challenges for communication privacy. Events like mistaken communications or computer hacks can present serious ethical issues for attorneys who have two key communication responsibilities under the ABA Model Rules of Professional Conduct:

• Rule 1.4 requires attorneys to keep their clients reasonably informed of the status of their case. Rule 1.4 has additional communication responsibilities. For this reason, lawyers spend a good portion of their time ensuring that certain communications reach their clients either directly or via email, text, or other electronic means.
• Rule 1.7 requires attorneys to keep client information confidential. Lawyers cannot share client information or information about their client’s case without informed consent. Client privacy is one of the most important, if not the most important ethical responsibility a lawyer has. Attorneys must guard their client’s privileged information in order to provide high-quality legal services.

If either of these rules is violated, lawyers can face serious professional responsibility consequences. Unfortunately, violations often occur when client information is disclosed inadvertently via an accidental text message or email, a computer hack, or some other data breach.

Our latest CLE on this topic provides communication best practices to help safeguard information against honest mistakes and criminal activity. In this course, attorneys will learn how to:

• store data safely;
• review email practices within their law firm;
• use messenger apps safely and compliantly; and
• develop strategies to prevent cyber attacks.

Legal Ethics: Avoid Complaints with Better Communication

Format: Live Video Webinar

Duration: 3 hours 15 minutes

CLE Credits: Varies, please review your state’s accreditation

Date: Wednesday, April 13, 2022

Time: 1:00 pm - 4:15 pm Eastern

Online marketing for lawyers is essential for law firms, but it comes with its own ethical challenges. It has provided countless new avenues for communication, which certainly helps with marketing efforts. However, such high volumes of communication also inadvertently lead to ethics violations. Common avenues of communication include social media platforms, website live chats, and other direct messaging applications.

Ethics violations can range from client solicitation and unintentional attorney-client relationships to receiving information that poses conflicts of interest. Still, lawyers must be able to continue to use online marketing to grow their firm and compete in a busy legal market.

In “Legal Ethics: Avoid Complaints with Better Communication,” our instructors provide important best practices and guidance to help attorneys navigate online communications with prospective clients. This 3 hour and 15 minute ethics CLE course will cover the following topics:

• Legal websites
• Marketing statements
• Online client intake
• Client management
• Client testimonials and reviews
• Avoiding misleading statements online
• Using social media
• Active client communications

Regardless of the practice area, this ethics CLE course will provide ambitious lawyers with the skills and knowledge necessary to successfully navigate marketing communications, prospective client communications, and active client communications in a virtual setting.