by Mike Sharkey
Staff Writer
Last fall, the Supervisor of Elections Office, in conjunction with its “Partners in Democracy” campaign, enlisted the help of dozens of area attorneys who monitored and worked polling precincts all over town. Like any other poll worker, the attorneys went through a four-hour training class.
Shortly after the Nov. 5 election, attorney A. Wellington Barlow began looking into whether or not the attorneys could receive Continuing Legal Education credit from The Florida Bar for the training. The process was time-consuming and involved sending paperwork back and forth to the bar’s offices in Tallahassee. But it worked.
“For those who applied, they received four hours of CLE credit,” said attorney Reggie Luster.
The CLE earned by local attorneys may be a first in the state. Donna Bicknell, director of legal specialization and education for The Florida Bar, said she wasn’t aware of any other attorneys ever applying for this type of credit. However, it didn’t surprise her or any other member of the bar.
“It’s not necessarily odd. It’s a training program for attorneys on the elections laws in Florida,” said Bicknell, adding the applications for CLE were given the same consideration and scrutiny as other applications. “To my knowledge there was no debate. The information provided to us was consistent with what we require.”
Unfortunately, not every attorney knows about the opportunity to put a dent in their bar-mandated CLE requirements.
“I talked to Bill Scheu about it [applying for CLE credit] and he thought favorably of it,” said Barlow. “We got the approval in December. I called Bill and we decided to send out an e-mail, but not everyone got it. So they don’t all know they can apply.”
For attorneys, applying now is the easy part. Barlow, on the other hand, had to work hard to convince the bar the training qualified as Continuing Legal Education.
“There’s a process you have to go through to get any course certified for CLE credit,” said Barlow. “This was kind of unusual, so they called and I explained what we did.”
The bar requires every attorney in the state to report every three years that they have completed 30 hours of CLE. Protocol is for most attorneys to attain CLE seminars within their areas of practice. However, five hours must come from ethics and professionalism classes or seminars.
There’s even more good news for attorneys. According to Luster, any attorney who works the April 15 city election — for which they will receive a little different training — may be eligible for even more credit.
“I have been asked to consider working the April election and at my [Jacksonville Bar Association] Board of Governors meeting the issue was raised and there was a positive response,” said Luster. “I believe everyone will be required to go through some training, if not the same training but a refresher course and I support that so that everyone will be familiar with the election laws.
“If we do receive additional training, I believe those lawyers will seek Florida Bar CLE credit.”
Bicknell said The Florida Bar will review the training program and outline for April and May’s local elections before awarding any more CLE based on poll worker training.