Legal Education’s Loss and the Problem with CLE

Late last week David Hass, Wisconsin’s Director of Judicial Education, died unexpectedly. For 16 years Dave coordinated an innovative variety of excellent programs that updated judges on important developments while deepening their understanding of core legal principles. Dave was a warm, gracious man who will be missed.

Dave’s passing is an opportunity to reflect briefly on the sharp contrast between continuing education for judges and lawyers. My modest observations are informed by nearly thirty years of teaching to both groups and by my current perspective as chair of the Wisconsin Board of Bar Examiners, which regulates continuing lawyer education (CLE).

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Thank You to Michael O’Hear

michaelohearFive years ago Marquette Law School launched this faculty blog. It was then, and has been since, a group project, with posts coming from faculty members, primarily, but others as well, including alumni and students, and comments from just about anyone willing to include his or her name. Yet one person has had more to do with the blog, from its suggestion to its success, than any other: Michael M. O’Hear, professor of law and associate dean for research. Professor O’Hear himself has put up almost 500 posts, variously touching upon Seventh Circuit decisions, Wisconsin law and policy in the area of sentencing, the work of faculty colleagues, and many other topics. His work also has involved leadership beyond such example — to the point that a contributor to the Volokh Conspiracy, one of the most popular law blogs, remarked in 2011 that the Marquette blog is the most frequently updated of any law school faculty blog. It is thus with both gratitude and a bit of anxiety that I relate that Professor O’Hear has handed the reins to another colleague (Professor Bruce E. Boyden). After a half-decade of service as lead editor, Professor O’Hear leaves this blog in good shape, and he is especially eager to turn more of his undivided attention to a book project. To be sure, Professor O’Hear will continue to contribute to the blog, but I wish not merely to note the handoff but also to thank him for his prodigious work on this project for as long as — indeed, even longer than — we have published this blog.

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