I realize I live in my own little world, but when did this nonsense come about. If you are sworn in after July 1, 1996, you must take this course or, October 1, 2006, your license will be suspended. I have never heard of this (perhaps that is what I get for summarily circle filing my bar journal). One of my assistants is scrambling around to get this taken care of. This seems a little asinine.

I took mine online. It takes a couple of hours, but you can get it done in less than a day at your own schedule.

http://www.legalspan.com/txethics/courses.asp?

There didn't seem to be much point to the course either. As I recall, it was mostly focused on how to run your own law practice and the concept of billable hours. Useless for prosecutors, and probably not anything near enough details for those who actually needed the information. Plus most people I saw were reading newspapers or doing crosswords the whole time.

[This message was edited by Andrea Westerfeld on 07-07-06 at .]

Thank goodness I'm exempt from that. Is there any truth to the rumor that if you do not complete the course in a timely fashion, you will be penalized further by being forced to receive TWO issues of the Texas Bar Journal every month?

I can see how receiving two copies of every issue of the bar journal could be a good thing rather than a penalty -- like if you had two bird cages

Oh, come on--like you've never needed an extra impromptu coaster, fly swatter, or, as I myself just realized, something amenable to being crumpled up and used as packaging material for dishes you're boxing up. Thankfully, mine's still patiently sitting on my credenza, which I never got a chance to clean off last week.

Elizabeth

I took that stupid class in Fort Worth. It took like all day. I don't remember learning anything as it was all directed to civil lawyers and solos.

As for the Bar Journal, if it weren't for that scholarly publication I wouldn't have anything to cover the ground when I change the oil in my car.

I haven't received anything about it & just checked my MCLE record online. They say I'm in compliance until 2007. I've never taken that course, though. Is the Ethics Course the same thing?

[This message was edited by e hernandez on 07-10-06 at .]

Not sure. SBOT says they have been giving notice but no one I know ever got anything. The ADA in our office that was required to take it contacted MCLE and they said he had already taken the course. He didn't remember. Obviously a useful course to make such a lasting impression.

The only notice I remember getting was a form slipped in with other information when I got my license.

How do readers feal about requiring all newly-licensed attorneys to practice as an apprentice for six months or longer before they be allowed to practice law alone? This would seem to be a good deal more practical requirement than the unmemorable day-long course currently offered.

An apprenticeship program is a great idea in theory, but may be difficiult to work out in practice. I have thought it would be an effective program for some time.

I was fortunate enough when I had to go solo right off the bat to be in a small town with several attorneys willing to mentor me. I, in effect, had a town full of advisors whose door was always open. But that is not always the case. You may have trouble getting experienced attorneys to sign up to mentor or you may get experienced attorneys signing up to mentor that would do more harm than good. I can think of some that attorneys later in my practice that were so willing to give me advice and help and who needed the mentoring more than I did. Sometimes the biggest hearts are coupled with the smallest brains, if ya' know what I mean.

An apprenticeship or mentoring program would be wonderful but should be carefully thought out before put into practice.

I don't know if I would require it for ALL newly licensed attorneys. If an new attorney is going into a firm, that is what the senior attorneys are for. And, because they have a monetary interest in the young attorney's performance, they will make sure the newbie is properly trained.

In effect, starting work at a firm or in the government is an apprenticeship. I agree that careful monitoring of mentors should be required, but simply exposing someone to the fulltime practice of the law after graduation but before release to practice alone has got to be an improvement over the novice starting from scratch.

Having done just that(been the novice starting from scratch), I agree.

Seems to me that the chief complaint about the video is that it is being forced on everyone and not just those solo newbies

FYI, there's a copy of the most recent Supreme Court order on this matter to be found on p. 680 of the July 2006 Bar Journal.