Discontinuing Legal Education

In my humble opinion, with a little luck, I am about to complete my final round of CLE courses mandated by the NYS Bar Association that are required to support my Biannual Registration with that August Organization. I began yesterday and will stream through it over the next few days seriatim.

Thank the Universe I can see the light at the end of this tunnel before SEEING THE LIGHT AT THE END OF THE TUNNEL.

Given my recent turn of professional events, I do not intend to practice law again on this energy plane, unless it’s solely pro se on behalf of my fool of a client, in protecting my assets, making incredibly lucrative film or book deals, or in chasing down anything I may be owed by third parties. With respect to that last bit, I am much more inclined to turn that over to a Bronx Born knuckle-dragging bill collector.

Depending on whether me or Pete Sheridan are right on our respective views of the celestial afterlife, I may need my legal chops one more time, and I may have to reconsider citing Paradise Lost, Book I, line 242. But I digress.

Part of me wants to just turn over the car keys and file a retirement package which absolves me of having to pay them any further ridiculous fees, but since I bought the video package back when I didn’t know any better, that will readily provide me with the required 24 CLE Credits, I might as well complete the process one last time to give me a final two years with the lethal legal arrow in my quiver.

Back in the heyday of the big firm practice of law, lawyers spent big money during their two years between license renewals flying to warm locales for winter weekends to attend CLE events where they basically socialized and enjoyed the amenities of mini vacations, but that was never an option for me, given that I never seemed to have that disposable income, and my weekends were all accounted for performing family obligations.

Now, as I mentioned, earlier this year I did what I always do and bought the smorgasbord package from a wonderful CLE Organization. It’s the cheapest one they offer and is (IMHO) the leftover courses from all areas of practice tossed into the bag. You take it as is. No complaints.

And I’m not complaining. They are all high-quality productions by experienced lawyers who really care about their areas of practice. And I could always pony up much more money to watch high profile members of the bar practicing in my niche entertainment area of law talk about the latest legal decisions and trends that impact me more directly. But given that my successful daily practice over 4 decades at a very high level has exposed me to all of the latest cases and trends arising in my area of law, why pay a lot extra to learn what I already know. I know, it’s hubris. See Paradise Lost, supra, passim.

But, then again, my profession seems to bring out the best in me.

So, every fall in the odd years over the past four decades I have sat through series of videos like the ones appearing at the opening of today’s blog.

The process of sitting through 24 hours of these randomly selected videos has been comparable to the scenes in The Natural where Hodge (RR) et al are forced to repeatably watch the “Losing is a Disease” lecture by the team Psychologist.

Again, I’m not knocking the production value or the content. It is all first rate. Kudos to those lawyers willing to give back to the legal community. Respect.

It’s really all me. I know I have exceeded my legal and ethical obligations as a lawyer since I was first sworn in along with a crowd of excited novices at the Courtroom of the First Department. For over four decades I have never provided less than valuable, stellar legal service, or come close to transgressing an ethical rule. My biannual video ritual has had no impact on that.

I remember it pissed rain that day. Heaven’s tears.

My family was so proud.

So, I will spend the next few days glued before my computer, listening to each of the lectures and especially for the magic word I’ll need to submit at the end to prove I watched it. I guess lawyers don’t trust lawyers.

In the end, the villainous Dick the Butcher was right when he declared, “The first thing we do, let’s kill all the lawyers.” Shakespeare’s Henry VI, Part II.

But not for the obvious connotation.

It was actually dastardly Dick’s acknowledgment as a resentful miscreant that lawyers bring order from the chaos of this world and oppose his rebellious methods.

Literary Hub » What did Shakespeare mean when he wrote “let’s kill all the lawyers?”

It’s been an honor to be part of that necessary evil to society for as long as I have been.

But it’s time to put that to rest, so that this earringed bearded Bard can create his own notable fictional characters that some other poor frustrated writer/lawyer will read about a few hundred years from now.

But before I sit back down to watch the next monotonous video, I need to go do some Casa Claire chores and make my rounds.

You fine, five readers finish that last cuppa and slide through one more Friday morning of work before you sneak out and start your weekends.

And no matter what else we get up to, let us make today a great one.