1. Ned Hawkins& Hagana Kim Legal Education Programs
Offering CLE Credits at Your Symposia/Lunch Speakers/Events “The Smartest Thing You Can Do at Penn Law.” – Dimitri Islam
Ned Hawkins& Hagana Kim
Legal Education Programs
I’m here today to talk about how your student group can offer CLE credits at your events.

2. Why offer CLE at your event?
“If you don’t give me my CLE credits, what I’m going to do to you is going to be fudging disgusting.”
“You guys going to the law review symposium?”
“No way – the FedSoc speaker comes with Shake Shack.”
The Law School is a licensed PA CLE provider and can authorize CLE credit for substantive legal programming that meets the rules and regulations of the Pennsylvania Continuing Legal Education Board.
As you may know, all licensed attorneys must fulfill certain CLE requirements each year to remain compliant with their states’ CLE Boards. In PA, attorneys must complete 12 CLE credits each year (10 substantive 2 ethics) and 6 of those credits must come from live CLE programming. Once programs receive PA credit, lawyers from other jurisdictions can often receive credit under their bar rules as well.
Live CLE programming is a great way to boost attorney attendance. Also, speakers can receive credit for preparing for and presenting at your event so it’s a nice benefit to offer potential speakers.
Provide a Valuable Incentive for Panelists
Attract Famous Attorneys to your Event

3. What Qualifies for CLE Credit
To receive CLE credit, the program must be on the subjects of:
(1) substantive law, practice and procedure;
(2) lawyer ethics and the rules of professional conduct;
(3) professionalism; and/or
(4) substance abuse as it affects lawyers and the practice of law
Courses must be at least 60 minutes in length to receive CLE credit. Courses in excess of 60 minutes will be apportioned credits in half-hour increments
As you can see it’s a fairly broad standard and generally any event that discusses a legal topic in detail will qualify for CLE credit. Ethics credits can be awarded for events that feature topics on professional responsibility for attorneys (e.g., handling of fees, conflicts of interest, etc.).
Please note that CLE credit can only be awarded if your event is at least sixty minutes of length – that time period does not include break times or general introductory remarks but DOES include Q&A.

4. Submitting CLE Requests
The main takeaway for today is that when you know when your event is going to take place and you have a nearly finalized agenda, you should submit the CLE request form to our office so we can review it and determine whether it qualifies for CLE credit. You should try to submit these requests as early as possible so we can provide you with all necessary information and arrange for staffers at your event. On the Penn Law homepage click on News, then select CLE…

5. Submitting CLE Requests
And then at the bottom of the page click Download CLE request form.

6. Submitting CLE Requests
The request form looks like this. It’s ok if you don’t know all the information when completing this form, but try to fill out as much as possible especially the topics, the date, and the time periods for each presentation. Also include with your Request Form a complete agenda that includes start and stop times, Q&A, breaks, etc. Once we receive your request we will review it and determine how much CLE credit you can offer at your event.

7. Submitting CLE Requests
AT LEAST 30 days prior to your event - submit the CLE Request Form to
Include finalized, timed agenda including introductions and breaks
Topics and times must be finalized – specific speakers do NOT have to be finalized
Request CLE before finalizing your publicity – approved CLE language must appear on all publicity
Again, please try to submit this request as early as possible, but at least 30 days prior to your event. The speakers do not need to be finalized at this point, but the topics and times should be as those are the main pieces of information we need in determining the type and amount of credit that can be awarded. Also, certain disclaimer language has to appear on all your publicity if you are offering CLE credit so it’s best to get your request in as early as possible so we can provide that language to you well in advance to avoid having to redo your brochure, posters, etc.
Once your event is approved, you must upload your publicity to the CLE Calendar along with a brief description of the event, start and end times, and room information.

8. Day of the Event
We will provide smiling staffers and event support for your event’s CLE Registration!
CLE Registration
We will provide staffers at your event to help register attendees and collect payment. Attendees receiving CLE credit must pay an administrative fee of $40 per credit hour for private sector attorneys and $20 per credit hour for non profit and public interest attorneys so please be aware of that when setting your overall fee for the event.
Also CLE events require that thorough high quality written material be provided to attendees either in advance or the day of the event. Generally detailed articles on the topic at issue or papers being presented by panelists will qualify. Tim Von Dulm in the Biddle Law Library can help you prepare these materials. Brief outlines without citations or explanatory notations are not acceptable.
Remember to request a separate CLE registration table from Facilities on the day of your event!
Remember to request a CLE Registration table from Facilities

9. Other Items of Note
CLE Available for your Guest Speakers & Panelists! Please submit those requests with your CLE Request Form.
Consider scheduling panel sessions in half-hour increments
Example: A 75-minute session would receive 1 CLE credit whereas a 90-minute session would receive 1.5 CLE credits.
When in doubt, request CLE!
As I mentioned earlier, if panelists are interested in receiving CLE credit there is a separate form called the Teaching Activity/Application for Course Preparation Credit form that also needs to be completed. Just indicate in your that you have speakers interested in receiving CLE credit and we will send you the additional form to fill out.
Also, because PA awards CLE credit on a 60-minute credit hour and rounds down to the nearest ½ hour, a panel session lasting 75 minutes would only qualify for 1 CLE credit whereas a 90 minute session would count for 1.5 credit hours. Please keep that in mind when setting your agenda.

10. Please contact CLE@law.upenn.edu or drop by T-155 with any questions!
Please reach out to myself or Hagana Kim in our office if you have any questions! Also, if you or someone in your student group is interested in working as CLE staffers please me. The hourly rate is $12/hour and you can study during downtime at the registration table.