STATE OF MISSISSIPPI

RULES AND REGULATIONS FOR MANDATORY
CONTINUING LEGAL EDUCATION

(revised August 1, 1994)

RULE 4. ACCREDITATION

Credit will be given only for CLE programs approved by the Commission. Such approval normally must be sought and granted prior to the occurrence of the activity but may be given retroactively.

Regulations

4.1 The following standards will govern the approval of continuing legal education activities by the Commission.

4.2 The activity must be effectively open to all attorneys licensed to practice law in the State of Mississippi, unless offered by a governmental department or agency for employees of the governmental department or agency. By making an application for approval by the Commission, the seminar sponsor consents to the seminar being listed on the calendar of upcoming CLE events disseminated by the Commission.

4.3 The activity must have significant intellectual or practical content and its primary objective must be to increase the participant's professional competence as an attorney.

4.4 The activity must deal primarily with matters related to the practice of law, professional responsibility or ethical obligations of attorneys.

4.5 The activity must be offered by a sponsor having substantial, recent experience in offering continuing legal education or demonstrated ability to organize and present effectively continuing legal education. Demonstrated ability arises partly from the extent to which individuals with legal training or educational experience are involved in the planning, instruction and supervision of the activity.

4.6 The activity itself must be conducted by an individual or group qualified by practical or academic experience. The program, including the named advertised participants, must be conducted substantially as planned, subject to emergency withdrawals and alterations.

4.7 Thorough, high quality, readable, and carefully prepared written materials must be made available to all participants at or before the time the course is presented, unless the absence of such materials is recognized as reasonable and approved by the Commission; mere outline without citations or explanatory notations will not be sufficient.

4.8 The activity must be conducted in a physical setting conducive to learning.

4.9 Activities offered by satellite transmittal or electronic reproduction must provide a qualified on-site moderator and question-and-answer session. Telephone seminars must be conducted "live," not pre-recorded, and must provide a question-and-answer session.

4.10 As a minimum, the activity must consist of not less than two (2) hours of actual instruction, except for programs dedicated solely to the one mandatory hour of legal ethics, which programs shall have a minimum length of sixty minutes. See Rule 3 and Regulation 3.7

4.11 Activities that cross academic lines, such as an accounting-tax seminar, may be considered for approval.

4.12 At the conclusion of an approved program or activity, each participating attorney must be given the opportunity to complete an evaluation questionnaire addressing the quality, effectiveness and usefulness of the particular activity. Within thirty (30) days of the conclusion of the activity, a summary of the results of the questionnaire must be forwarded to the Commission. If requested, copies of the questionnaires must also be forwarded to the Commission. Sponsors must maintain the questionnaires for a period of 90 days following a program pending a request for submission of them to the Commission.

4.13 The costs of the program itself to the participating attorney, apart from optional meals, lodging, travel, etc., must be reasonable considering the subject matter, instructional level, etc.

4.14 Continuing legal education activities sponsored by the following organizations (hereinafter referred to as Sponsors) are presumptively approved for credit, provided the standards set out in Regulations 4.1 through 4.13 are met.

Abbott & Weems "Recent Mississippi Law"
Accredited law schools (ABA or AALS)
Alabama Institute for CLE
American Academy of Hospital Attorneys
American Academy of Judicial Education
American Agricultural Law Association
American Association of Railroad Trial Counsel
American Bar Association and Bar Sections
American Bankers Association (legal programs only)
American Business Law Association
American Board of Trial Advocates
American College of Mortgages Attorneys
American College of Probate Counsel
American College of Real Estate Lawyers
American College of Trial Lawyers
American Corporate Counsel Association
American Institute on Federal Taxation
American Intellectual Property Law Association
American Judicature Society
American Law Institute
American Society for Law and Medicine
Association of Insurance Attorneys
Association of Trial Lawyers of America
Bar Associations of Other States, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and Trust Territories
Boackle, K.F.
Bureau of National Affairs
Central Mississippi Legal Services
CLE International
Commercial Law League of America Fund for Public Education
Construction Education Management Corp. (legal programs only)
Copyright Society of the U.S.A.
Council of School Board Attorneys, MS School Boards Association
Court Practice Institute, Inc.
Credit Union National Association, Inc. (Legal Programs Only)
Cumberland School of Law Institute for CLE
Defense Research Institute
East Mississippi Rural Legal Services
Eastern Mineral Law Foundation
Edison Electric Institute
Federal Bar Association
Federal Energy Bar Association
Federal Insurance Counsel
Federal Judicial Center
Federal Publications, Inc.
Food Marketing Institute
Government Institutes, Inc.
Gulf Coast Law Institute
International Association of Defense Counsel
International Association of Insurance Council
Jackson Young Lawyers Association
Law Journal Seminars Press
Legal Education Institute
Legal Sections, agency programs - U.S. and state government
Library of Congress - Legislative Service
Library of Congress (American Law Division)
Louisiana Trial Lawyers Association
Magnolia Bar Association
Maritime Law Association
Medi-Legal Institute
Memphis Bar Association
Mississippi Association of County Board Attorneys
Mississippi Bankruptcy Conference
Mississippi Bar Association, and Bar Sections,
Local, County and Regional Bar Associations in Mississippi
Mississippi Chapter, Federal Bar Association
Mississippi College School of Law
Mississippi Defense Lawyers Association
Mississippi Institute of Continuing Legal Education
Mississippi Judicial College
Mississippi Law Institute
Mississippi Legal Services Coalition
Mississippi Municipal Attorneys Association
Mississippi Oil and Gas Lawyers Association
Mississippi Pro Bono Project
Mississippi Prosecutors College
Mississippi Society of Certified Public Accountants
Mississippi Tax Institute
Mississippi Trial Lawyers Association
Montgomery County, Maryland Bar Foundation
Motor Carrier Lawyers Association
National Association of Bond Lawyers
National Association of Attorneys General
National Association of College and University Attorneys
National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers
National Association of Railroad Trial Counsel
National Bar Association
National Business Institute
National College of District Attorneys
National College of Juvenile Justice
National Contract Management Association
National District Attorneys Association
National Employment Law Institute
National Health Lawyers Association
National Institute for Trial Advocacy
National Institute of Municipal Law Officers
National Judicial College
National Legal Aid and Defender Association
National Organization of Social Security Claimants' Representatives
National Practice Institute
National Rural Electric Cooperative Association (legal programs only)
New Mexico Trial Lawyers
New Orleans Orthopaedic Clinic (legal programs only)
New York University School of Continuing Education in Law & Taxation
North Carolina Academy of Trial Lawyers
North Mississippi Rural Legal Services
Norton Institutes (CRR Publishing Co.)
National Association of Bond Lawyers
Patent Resources Group, Inc.
Practicing Law Institute
Prentice Hall Law and Business, Inc.
Professional Education Systems, Inc.
Professional Trail Lawyers Institute, Inc.
Rocky Mountain Mineral Law Foundation
Securities Industry Association (legal programs only)
South Mississippi Legal Services
Southeast Mississippi Legal Services
Southeastern Bankruptcy Law Institute, Inc.
Southern Federal Tax Institute, Inc.
Southwest Mississippi Legal Services
Southwestern Legal Foundation
Tennessee Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers
Tennessee Trial Lawyers Association
The Southern California Tax & Estate Planning Forum
The Southern Trust School (Alabama)
Transportation Lawyers Association
Uniform Commercial Code Institute
University of Mississippi Center for Continuing Legal Education
U.S. League of Savings Association (legal programs only)
U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Legal Education
Veterans Administration (Office of General Counsel)
Westcott Communications

Other Sponsors may be added to this list as their identities and programs are confirmed by the Commission.

4.15 The Sponsor of an approved CLE activity may announce in informational literature or program materials as follows:
"This course or a portion thereof has been approved by the Mississippi Commission on Continuing Legal Education for a maximum of ___________ hours of credit:
The sponsor of a CLE activity which has applied for but not received approval prior to the priniting of informational literature or program materials may announce as follows:
"The sponsor has applied to the Mississippi Commission on Continuing Legal Education for approval of this course or a portion thereof for a maxiumm of ______________ hours of credit."
4.16 The Commission may at any time reevaluate a program and revoke approval of the Sponsor or of a particular seminar.

4.17 Any Sponsor not included in Regulation 4.14 above, desiring approval of a course, program, or other activity, will apply to the Commission by submitting a required application form and supporting documentation no less than forty-five (45) days prior to the date for which the course or program is scheduled. The Commission will advise the applicant in writing by mail within thirty (30) days of the receipt of the completed application whether the activity is approved or disapproved. Applicants denied approval of a program or activity may appeal such a decision by submitting a letter of appeal to the Commission within fifteen (15) days of the receipt of the notice of the disapproval.

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