In order to help members of the Illinois State Bar Association to meet the requirements of new minimum continuing legal education (MCLE) rules, a broad approach to more seminar opportunities is being developed.

The ISBA Board of Governors on Jan. 27 adopted in concept the expansive re-commendations of a Special Task Force on Implementation of Continuing Legal Education, chaired by Third Vice President Jack Carey of Belleville.

The recommendations call for pre-sentation of at least 60 separate section-driven programs each year, with repeated presentations of them boosting the total to as many as 200.

Plans are under way to implement distance-learning methodology, such as online streaming and downloads, along with production and dissemination of compact disks and videotapes of the programs.

The proposal also suggests the creation of partnerships with law schools and regional bar associations in an effort to widen the scope of seminar presentations at venues throughout the state.

The task force recommended requiring section councils to propose certain numbers of CLE seminars annually, depending on the sizes of their active memberships.

Those with 1,500 or more members (five councils) would provide at least three titles each year; those between 700 and 1,500 (nine councils) would have at least two each year; those with fewer than 700 (21 councils) would have at least one.

Specific section councils would be required to present annual update or “hot topics” seminars, and some would undertake “back to basics” pre-sentations.

A basic skills course for newly ad-mitted lawyers, which is a requirement of the MCLE rules, will be conducted in late May after the court's admission ceremonies.

Access the ISBA Web site, www.isba.org, for information about current seminar offerings. The Web site also has a link to the MCLE regulations.