About Echion CLE
“Ours is a learned profession, not a mere money-getting trade….” ABA Opinion 250 (1943) (quoting Canon 12 of the ABA Canons of Professional Ethics (1908)). Although the ABA deleted this provision when it replaced the Canons with the Model Code of Professional Responsibility, the Preamble to the Model Code still contains some precatory language to similar effect:
"As a public citizen, a lawyer should seek improvement of the law, access to the legal system, the administration of justice and the quality of service rendered by the legal profession. As a member of a learned profession, a lawyer should . . . work to strengthen legal education."
Echion CLE is nothing more nor less than an earnest attempt to fulfill that obligation. It is not a client-getting artifice, and it is not making anybody rich.
History
Echion CLE was originally organized as a limited liability company. In 2023, the decision was made to incorporate as a Section 501(c)(3) non-profit organization.
Echion offered its first CLE course in 2021. It was a program called Helping Male Survivors of Childhood Sex Crimes. It was offered free of charge, with CLE accreditation in the Elimination of Bias category.
The program deviated radically from the traditional CLE course format. Instead of a lecture, attorney host/moderator Tom James presented a film clip, conducted an unrehearsed interview with leading expert Dr. Richard Gartner, and concluded by moderating an unscripted panel discussion with a group of adult men who had actually experienced sexual assault when they were children. He believed that introducing them as real, living people to course attendees, allowing students to hear them tell their stories in their own words and on their own terms, would go a lot farther toward eliminating bias than lecturing people or showing them PowerPoint slides containing charts, graphs, quotations, and statistical data. Although putting this kind of course together took many hours and presented many challenges - some unexpected and some truly bizarre - and despite experiencing technical difficulties during some of the video replays, the program was well-received.
Since then, he and an informal assortment of cohorts have completely re-envisioned Echion CLE as something more than merely a platform for e-commerce law talk. It is a gift of an opportunity to share knowledge, wisdom, and ideas for improving the legal system and the practices of law and mediation.
A different kind of continuing education platform
Echion's sole raison d'etre is education. Of course, teaching a legal education course inevitably generates some publicity and name recognition for the presenter. Echion CLE, however, is not an advertising service. We do not ask for, and will not accept, payment from presenters in exchange for an opportunity to speak.
Echion CLE is neither a membership organization nor a subscription service. It is sustained by the fees people pay to attend courses.
On occasion, we will offer a free course. Securing accreditation and paying monthly fees for webinar hosting and other necessary support services cost money, though. That is why most courses are fee-based. We strive, however, to offer programming at a fraction of the cost that others charge. Our objective is to increase the reach of our presenters' words, not to limit their audience to a wealthy few.
Echion CLE is committed to providing timely, useful information and ideas in a truly diverse and inclusive way. We do not shy away from controversial topics. We are not, however, a forum for the dispensation of false or misleading information, hate-based rhetoric, or religious or ideological proselytization. A high premium is placed on both honesty and practical utility.