| Former State Bar President David Heilbron is chairing a
12-member commission to assess the bar's mandatory continuing legal education (MCLE)
program. Current bar President Raymond C. Marshall said the commission will examine all
aspects of the controversial program, which has become a focus of discontent among many
California attorneys. The group will look at the types of courses offered, the number of
hours required and other states' requirements. It is expected to schedule hearings to
receive testimony from attorneys and members of the public. Marshall said he expects the
group to report back to the board of governors in nine to 12 months, when "it will
issue recommendations that could include keeping MCLE intact, implementing modifications
or even elimination. All options are open to them."
The Supreme Court currently has under submission a case challenging the
constitutionality of exemptions to the program. In addition, legislation now pending in
the Assembly reduces the number of required hours from 36 to 25 over three years and
eliminates all special requirements with the exception of four hours in ethics
instruction.
Other members of the commission are:
Jane Cardoza, judge, Fresno County Superior Court; Gaily Dryden of Carmel, newly
elected president of the League of Women Voters of California; John Dunleavy of Redwood
City, executive director of the California CPA Education Foundation; Patricia Gomez, a
sole practitioner from San Luis Obispo; Donald S. Gray, president of the Orange County Bar
Association and general counsel of Toshiba America Information Systems Inc.; Mary Kay
Kane, dean of Hastings College of the Law in San Francisco; Jonathan Shapiro, chief of
staff for Lt. Gov. Cruz Bustamante; Robert Van Nest, a commercial litigator with the San
Francisco firm of Keker & Van Nest; Matthew N. White, a member of the board of
directors of the Marin County Bar Association and former chair of the bar's continuing
education committee; Claudia Wilken, judge, U.S. District Court, northern district,
Oakland; and Kalman Zempleny, director of legal services programs at the Rutter Group. |
