Michael Saporito, CLE Coordinator, Social Law Library

The Library’s entire spring agenda of in-person continuing legal education programs was cancelled for reasons of both public safety and the closure of the John Adams Courthouse to all patrons and members of the public. It is unfortunate because the Library had an ardent following of users who preferred our traditional “classroom” CLEs to the predominantly virtual formats offered by bar associations and other CLE providers.

In some measure, the fact that Social Law won “first place” for continuing legal education in Lawyer’s Weekly’s 2019  Readers Rankings contest might be indicative of a now nostalgic preference for the traditional lecture-hall and seminar formats.

There’s little doubt that in the new era of social distancing, virtual programs are the only viable option. The Library has, therefore, successfully transitioned to the virtual formats.  It has trained several staff members as “hosts” fully capable of managing the many features of the webinar software (e.g., switching PowerPoints between and among speakers, taking questions, etc.). It has synchronized the webinar registration and confirmation process with the credit card payment process.  It has also worked out and tested a standard protocol for remotely located panel members so that they are familiar with the webinar features prior to their presentations.

In response to patron requests, the Library has offered nine webinars to advise members how to access Library services remotely during the pandemic. This includes our first two online CLEs for the legal community—Massachusetts Legislative History (66 attendees) and COVID-19 and Divorce Law (107 attendees.) We have also produced special webinars for the Massachusetts judiciary (43 attendees), another for the legal staff of the Massachusetts Attorney General’s Office (12 attendees), and a third for legal counsel of state agencies (172 attendees.)

What we quickly learned in this environment is that both panelists and attendees often prefer online learning. Yes—people miss the chance to meet with colleagues face to face, but the convenience of online classes cannot be ignored. It is easier for panelists to agree to participate when we can take the commute to Boston out of the equation. Likewise our ability to reach attorneys from beyond Boston—both regionally and nationally has increased exponentially.

Where applicable, CLEs at the Social Law Library are pre-approved for CPCS credits. If you are an assigned bar counsel this pre-approval saves you the time of having to track down credits for attending a CLE. See the page for each individual program for details.

Our online calendar for the fall is filling up fast—we currently have dates for 20 programs, many that are already live for registration. Our CLE calendar covers a diverse range of practice areas from guardianship to family law to administrative law and many more. Now retooled, the Library has resumed robust programming.

Here’s the current line-up of webinar CLEs: 
https://www.socialaw.com/education/upcoming-events

Please feel free to reach out to me if you have any questions about any of our programs at msaporito@socialaw.com