Journal Title
Regent University Law Review
Volume
29
Issue
2
First Page
293
Document Type
Article
Publication Information
2017
Abstract
Religiously affiliated law schools focus on the integration of faith in the formation of future attorneys and leaders. Yet our students are only our students for three years. We can extend our influence and continue to provide a faith-based perspective to them and to other attorneys during the thirty, forty, or more years of their careers by offering continuing legal education (CLE) courses, which bring attorneys and judges together to provide a model for incorporating faith and morality into our professional roles. However, CLE programs must receive accreditation by state authorities if participants are to receive credit for them. Recently, the State Bar of Texas' Minimum Continuing Legal Education (MCLE) Committee refused to accredit such a program, determining that only "secular" programs could receive CLE credit. That committee was forced to reverse itself by virtue of a formal appeal filed by this author, supported by evangelical Christian and Catholic attorneys and entities, including St. Mary's University School of Law. This Article examines that situation and provides the framework other schools may use to prevent similar denials from occurring in their states.
Recommended Citation
Bill Piatt, State Bar Efforts to Deny Accreditation to Faith-Based CLE Ethics Programs Sponsored by Religiously Affiliated Law Schools, 29 Regent U. L. Rev. 293 (2017).