We’re entering the season when lawyers who haven’t gotten their CLE credit are thinking about what seminar to attend. Some of those attorneys will opt to attend the New Orleans Bar Association’s “Procrastinator’s Seminars,” which is fine if all you want is CLE credit. But if you want to actually learn something useful, you might try attending one of our CLE seminars. In that vein, here are some of the questions we get about our seminars, as compared to other offerings by various organizations and bar associations.
What’s so special about your Louisiana CLE seminars?
First, we aren’t in the CLE business per se. Our mission is to help lawyers learn to create less stressful practices, more efficient practices, more satisfying practices.
We focus on technology because it’s the biggest challenge for solo and small firm lawyers, and yet it has the greatest potential for helping lawyers work faster, smarter and better. Technology done right can lower your stress level, but done wrong it’s…well, you know.
Other CLE seminars are focused on making money off of lawyers who just want to meet their minimum annual requirement. The speakers at those programs are rarely very good (or interesting), because the program sponsors aren’t focused on quality—just revenue.
We’re truly focused on helping our fellow lawyers improve their practices. We only provide CLE credit as a convenience to Louisiana lawyers: it helps them meet their CLE obligation while learning the valuable stuff that we teach. If all you care about is getting CLE credit then you probably won’t care about the quality we offer (our seminars are typically less expensive than other CLE programs, so maybe you care about that).
Also, we give out lots of free stuff relevant to the topics we talk about (e.g. books, software, scanners etc.). It’s not quite like Oprah, but we’re working up to it. <grin>
I’m interested, but I have all the Louisiana CLE I need. Are your seminars really so helpful that I should come anyway?
If you’re intrigued about the possibility we might help your practice, just drop into one of our seminars and audit the first hour or two. If you don’t find the information useful, just get up and leave (you don’t have to pay). If you signed up in advance and paid to attend, but you don’t think the information is helpful, tell us and we’ll refund your money. No questions asked.
If you decide to register in advance, but don’t need CLE, just enter the promocode ‘nocle’ (without the single apostrophes) and you’ll get a discount off the standard price.
Who are your speakers?
Mostly, Ernie Svenson and Dane Ciolino. They’re both Louisiana lawyers who practiced in big firms, but then went solo because they learned to fine-tune their use of technology to work smarter and better, but at a lower cost. You can read more about Ernie and Dane, along with the other folks that speak at their seminars on on this page.
Do your seminars qualify for CLE in other states?
It depends on the other state. Typically, most states will accept CLE credit from Louisiana approved programs like ours if you submit a Uniform Certificate of Attendance, along with a printout of the course agenda. We supply you with everything that you might need in our written materials, and the rest is up to you.
Do you allow non-lawyers to attend?
Yes, we love to have your staff members attend. Just have them enter the promocode ‘nocle’ (without the single apostrophes) and they’ll get a discount off the standard price that is based on CLE credit.
Do you guys really refund money automatically if someone just doesn’t show up at a live seminar?
Yes, we do. And the reason we do is simple: we know what it’s like to run a law practice, and we want to help you make your life easier. Once you come to one our seminars you’ll understand that we’re not anything like other CLE providers. We want you to learn how to improve your law practice in a way that makes you more efficient and less stressed-out.
Where do you list your CLE seminars?
On this page, as well as on the Louisiana MCLE calendar.
What about online Louisiana CLE credit?
We also offer online CLE credit, which includes Ethics and Professionalism credits. Louisiana attorneys can get up to 4 hours of online CLE credit (including Ethics & Professionalism) each year. Click here to see our online CLE offerings.
What attendees say about our live seminars
- Very helpful for solo practitioner! —Jackie Blankenship
- Well presented and accessible…as well as interesting. —Ann D.
- I really appreciated the clear, crisp delivery. —Victor Prejeant
- I’ve replaced two litigation bags with an iPad. All as a result of these folks — Al Thompson
What viewers say about our online CLE videos
- Great way to get CLE credits! —Jeff Richardson
- It was convenient to be able to rewind and pause the video, which enabled me to listen to portions a second time. — Brian Ballay
- I got practical solutions to the email explosion we’re all experiencing. —Tony Gelderman
- I found this very useful! — Brian Hightower