CLE credits at no cost for CUNY Law alumni
The Law School’s CLE offerings are free for all CUNY Law alumni and available for reduced cost to benefit the greater New York legal community. CUNY Law is certified by the New York State Continuing Legal Education (CLE) Board as an Accredited Provider of continuing legal education in New York. Get access to CLE or submit a CLE proposal.
A library of on-demand CLE opportunities to fit your needs and your schedule.
Request access and register for one of our offerings today by contacting CUNY Law’s Community Legal Resource Network team. It’s free for alumni and affordable for the New York legal community.
Description
Recorded 4/19/2022
This CLE focuses on developing the essential “inner credentials” to sustain social justice lawyers’ practices over the long term and providing the grounding for healthy, balanced lives.
The bleak statistics from the ABA Report on the health of the legal profession are becoming more widely known: the professional norms are so out of balance in the legal world that they are taking a serious toll on its practitioners who are suffering with disproportionate levels of alcoholism, drug use, suicide, and depression. Legal education is just beginning to grapple with its responsibility to address this crisis. As the ABA report concludes, the profession, as is, is not sustainable.
This presentation goes beyond the growing use of mindfulness to assist lawyers and law students in managing the stress of law school and the profession, discussing the unique pressures law students and attorneys face when practicing social justice lawyering. A trauma lens examines the correlation with historical, racial, and intergenerational trauma, including Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACES) and ongoing life stressors with health, particularly for students and graduates marginalized by the profession. We discuss the stressors in the profession of undistinguished microaggressions, racism, sexism, homophobia, transphobia, and what we may take for granted as “legal culture,” in the very structures of our judicial system.
Presenters
- Charisa Kiyô Smith, Associate Professor & Co-Director of the Family Law Practice Clinic, CUNY Law
- Alizabeth Newman ’91
Credits: 2.0
1.0 Skills, 0.5 Ethics & Professionalism, 0.5 Diversity, Inclusion & Elimination of Bias*
Recorded 1/10/2023
When determining whether to remove a child from the family home, the court has a crucial decision to render that impacts the lives of the child, siblings, and parents. This CLE exposes how these factors are determined in the ideal and in reality, including issues of risk of harm, issuance of visitation, and continuation of the parent-child relationship, ensuring that the voices of young people and parents are not only heard but meaningfully engaged, and how race and equity come into play. The panel also discusses challenges to the Indian Child Welfare Act.
Presenters
- Danny Alicea ’13, Litigation Supervisor, Immigration, Center for Family Representation, NY
- Tracey Bing ’96, Recently retired Judge, Bronx County Family Court, NY
- Kim Dvorchak ’95, Executive Director, National Association of Counsel for Children, CO
- Karen Simmons ’94, Executive Director, The Children’s Law Center, NY
Credits: 3.0
2.0 Professional Practice, 0.5 Ethics & Professionalism, 0.5 Diversity, Inclusion & Elimination of Bias*
Description
Recorded 1/23/2024
This CLE will address some major trends in climate change litigation. The first speaker will provide a brief review of the current understandings of climate change science, that underlie all forms of climate litigation. The second speaker will review some of the major climate change litigation strategies, with a focus on the development and use of tort law to challenge corporate misconduct by the world’s largest fossil fuel companies (the fossil majors) in expanding and defending the use of fossil fuels long after they knew the consequences. The second portion of the CLE will address, first, constitutional climate change claims on the federal and state level. Second, this segment will examine international human rights claims. In these cases, claimants challenge the actions of their governments or corporations based on international human rights norms.
Presenters:
Eleanor Stein, Lecturer, State University of New York at Albany, CUNY Law Class of 1986
Suzanne Sangree, Senior Counsel, Grant & Eisenhofer, PA, CUNY, Law Class of 1986
Credits: 3.0
2.0 Professional Practice, 0.5 Ethics & Professionalism, 0.5 Diversity, Inclusion & Elimination of Bias*
Description
Recorded 1/25/2024
This CLE will discuss the recently-signed Clean Slate Act, which will expand opportunities for over 2.3 million New Yorkers with conviction records. With this new law, New York has joined eleven other states in passing legislation that will automatically seal certain convictions and allow people to overcome systemic barriers to jobs, housing, and education. However this Act does not cover all those with conviction records. We will discuss what barriers remain for those who are formerly incarcerated and who was not included with the Clean Slate Act and how this can impact clients in a variety areas of the legal system.
Presenters:
Darren Breeden, Community Intake Advocate, Neighborhood Defender Service of Harlem—Civil Defense Practice
Aleksandra Ciric, Staff Attorney, Special Litigation Unit, The Legal Aid Society
Zoni (Alexandra) Rockoff (’19), Staff Attorney – Civil Defense Practice, Neighborhood Defender Service of Harlem
Credits: 3.0
2.0 Professional Practice, 0.5 Ethics & Professionalism, 0.5 Diversity, Inclusion & Elimination of Bias*
Description
Recorded 3/1/2022
Attendees will learn basic elements of consumer bankruptcy with an emphasis on Chapter 7 cases, post-bankruptcy credit rebuilding, and post-pandemic ethics and opportunities. The discussion will cover information on interviewing clients, obtaining the requisite documents and securing legal fees at the outset of the case, preparing bankruptcy schedules, factors to be considered in the filing of a Chapter 7 case versus a Chapter 13 case, and analyzing assets to determine which can be retained and what debts can and cannot be discharged. This program discusses the role of U.S. Trustees, the “341” and “521” hearings, and guidance regarding credit repair.
The second half of the program addresses the internet era — replete with fintech providers; digital transactions; and new digital currency — innovation that helps many people solve their financial problems. Given the banking and financial services’ history of underwriting racism, fintech also exacerbates risks in unprecedented ways, necessitating consumer protection and regulation that centers financial security outcomes, particularly for Black and Brown women. Attendees learn how emerging products like EWA and BNPL utilize technology to add speed and convenience to what are fundamentally destructive products.
Presenters
- Mae Watson Grote ’99, Founder and Chief Executive Officer at Change Machine, formerly The Financial Clinic
- Kiva Vera Waters ’01, exclusively practicing consumer bankruptcy law
Credits: 3.0
2.0 Professional Practice, 0.5 Ethics & Professionalism, 0.5 Diversity, Inclusion & Elimination of Bias*
Recorded 6/29/2023
Instructors discuss updates and lessons learned during the COVID-19 pandemic, covering legal topics such as minors and revocable trusts, Medicaid, power of attorney, and considerations for immigrants in removal proceedings.
Presenters
- Keith B. Allen, ’09, The Law Office of Keith Barrington Allen, Esq.
- Leslie Sultan ’08, Law Offices of Leslie Sultan, P.C.
Credits: 3.0
2.0 Professional Practice, 0.5 Ethics & Professionalism, 0.5 Diversity, Inclusion & Elimination of Bias*
Description
Recorded 1/18/2023
This CLE addresses two emerging instances in which the right to be free from unreasonable search and seizure is at risk. Topics include the threats of 4th amendment breaches through technology including device searches, inscription, border searches, compelled decryption, and execution challenges; a 4th Amendment challenge to the CPS/ACS policy of entering homes inside of an investigation and without the use of a warrant or order; and how a government agency conducting millions of suspicion-based home searches could slip through the cracks of the 4th Amendment and will question the conclusions of some courts that none of the administrative search exceptions apply.
Presenters
- Tarek Z. Ismail, Associate Professor of Law CUNY School of Law, NY
- Sidney Thaxter ’11, Senior Litigator, Fourth Amendment Center, National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, Washington DC
Credits: 3.0
1.0 Professional Practice, 1.0 Cybersecurity, Privacy & Data Protection (General), 0.5 Ethics & Professionalism, 0.5 Diversity, Inclusion & Elimination of Bias*
Description
Recorded 6/9/2022
Hemp and marijuana are two different plants each with complex spiritual, political, medicinal, practical, recreational, and legal histories. Course participants will walk away from this program with an understanding of (1) the prohibition and prosecution histories of hemp and marijuana (2) the major governing legislation, including the 2018 federal Farm Bill, the Marijuana Opportunity Reinvestment (MOR) Act, and the Marihuana Regulation & Taxation Act, MRTA, and (3) the newly forming regulatory agencies such as the NYS Office of Cannabis Management (OCM) and Tribal Cannabis Control Boards (CCBs).
Furthermore, the program will outline the recent developments in criminal justice regarding marijuana legalization forging pathways for the expungement of criminal records for certain offenders. Presenters will also discuss the newest regulations on home cultivation and adult-use licenses. Lastly, as we approach the imminent licensing of dispensaries, participants will learn about who is eligible, how to apply, and the inherent social and economic equity issues arising in the licensing process.
Presenters
- Christopher Alexander ’19, Executive Director, NY Office of Cannabis Management, NY
- Angelo DiGangi ’86, Founder of The Community Advocacy Center and Director of Her Many Voices, NY
- Alicia Fall, Founder and Vision Holder of Her Many Voices Foundation, CO
- Wei Hu ’06, Founding Partner, MRTA Law (Marijuana Regulation & Taxation Act), NY
- Maren Krings, Photographer, Climate Impact Storyteller, and Author of the book H is for HEMP, Germany
Credits: 3.0
2.0 Professional Practice, 0.5 Ethics & Professionalism, 0.5 Diversity, Inclusion & Elimination of Bias*
Description
Recorded 6/21/2021
This CLE will address safety regulations within the home environment as well as the security of homes at this time in the pandemic. Participants will learn about some of the regulations on home-related safety issues such as lead paint and asthma, as well as discrimination concerns and the current operations of Housing Courts during the current housing crisis.
Presenters
- Matthew Chachère ’86, Northern Manhattan Improvement Corp.
- Jonathan Cohen ’89, Catholic Migration Services, NY
- Hon. Christel Garland ’09, Bronx County Housing Court
Credits: 3.0
2.0 Professional Practice, 0.5 Ethics & Professionalism, 0.5 Diversity, Inclusion & Elimination of Bias*
Description
Recorded 1/14/2021
During the summer of 2020 in the aftermath of the police murders of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Tony McDade, Jacob Blake, and too many other Black people killed by police, the United States was in the throes of the largest social justice movement in history, with millions of people, locally and globally, taking to the streets to protest anti-Black police violence, criminalization and incarceration. And while state responses varied in degree, they often involved police officers’ mass arresting and brutalizing of protesters. This CLE will walk participants through the criminal defense and civil rights strategies to support protesters’ rights to have their voices heard.
Presenters
- Moira Meltzer-Cohen ’12, Attorney at Law
- Joey Mogul ’97, People’s Law Office, Chicago, IL
Credits: 3.0
2.0 Professional Practice, 0.5 Ethics & Professionalism, 0.5 Diversity, Inclusion & Elimination of Bias*
Description
Recorded 6/26/2023
In this overview of the current legal issues facing low-wage workers in New York with a focus on workers’ compensation, wage-and-hour violations, and the rights of immigrant workers, including undocumented workers, instructors explore ethical matters such as discrimination and harassment.
Presenters
- Oksana Davydova ’14, Associate Attorney, McIntyre, Donohue, Accardi, Salmonson, & Riordan, LLP.
- Garrett Kaske ’13, Litigation Associate, Kessler Matura, P.C.
Credits: 3.0
2.0 Professional Practice, 0.5 Ethics & Professionalism, 0.5 Diversity, Inclusion & Elimination of Bias*
Description
Recorded 6/14/2022
Explore the US and global reaction to refugees fleeing war in Ukraine through the basic elements and practical application of humanitarian protections currently available under US immigration law including temporary protected status and asylum. Attendees will learn about the historical development of these protections, the international law obligations of each nation-state, as well as the socio/political influences on US policy toward refugees.
Presenters
- Professor Lori Nessel ‘92, Director of the Immigrants’ Rights/International Human Rights Clinic at Seton Hall University School of Law
- Jill Westerberg ’15, Westerberg Law Firm
Credits: 3.0
2.0 Professional Practice, 0.5 Ethics & Professionalism, 0.5 Diversity, Inclusion & Elimination of Bias*
*CLE Credits are provided by the Community Legal Resource Network at CUNY School of Law:
These CLE programs are approved for both experienced and newly admitted attorneys, except newly admitted attorneys are not eligible for the Diversity, Inclusion & Elimination of Bias credit.
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