THURSDAY, MAY 20, 2021| SERVING CHICAGO’S LEGAL COMMUNITY FOR 165 YEARS | CHICAGOLAWBULLETIN.COM VOLUME 167, NO. 59 MCLE Board looks ahead after 15 years Program now serves anniversary we’re closest to now.” more than 97,000 Jack L. Brooks, a retired licensed attorneys Rock Island attorney who and 1,800 providers was appointed the board’s first chair in 2005, said Jessie M. Molloy when the program was first jmolloy@lawbulletinmedia.com created it was challenging given there was not much When the Illinois Supreme guidance other than the Court created the Minimum court’s direction on what it Continuing Legal Education should be. Board in 2005, the state was “We didn’t even have an one of the last in the nation office until June, and we to implement such a pro- were fully functional by that gram. As the organization fall. It was quite a chal- Michele M. Jochner Jack L. Brooks commemorated its 15-year lenge,” he said. “In a lot of ways, it feels positive feedback from anniversary, it’s on the fore- Brooks attributes much of like those years have gone by providers” and, so far, has front of technology in the the program’s early success very quickly,” Johnson said. been met with enthusiasm field, with no plans to stop both to the “fantastic” staff “We’ve always been looking from attorneys. pushing forward. and board, and their early to the future to see how we “I’m totally impressed “We haven’t been able to commitment to technology. can better serve attorneys with what subsequent do much to celebrate during “We understood right away and providers while staying boards have done with the the pandemic, but all of us that we could not do every- true to those rules.” program,” said Brooks, who at the board are very excited thing manually,” Brooks said. In that spirit, Johnson was served as board chair until about marking our anniver- “Almost every other state in excited for the rollout of the 2013 and left the board the sary,” said Board Chair the union had some sort of MCLE’s latest technological following year. “Illinois is Michele Jochner, a partner MCLE program in place advancement, individualized basically leading the nation at Schiller DuCanto & Fleck before we did, but only two course lists for attorneys to on what MCLE can do with LLP. “It’s a great opportunity or three had their systems track their CLE credits. technology. It’s mind bog- to reflect on the past, assess online, and they were a “Up to now we’ve been gling.” the present, and look for- great help. We looked at operating under a system As the course list program ward to the future.” what they were doing, espe- where everyone would have completes its rollout, Jochner The MCLE Board has cially in Tennessee, and we to self-report and keep track says the board is already look- marked a year of anniver- were lucky enough to of the courses they’ve ing forward to its next tech- saries since late 2020. develop software that could taken,” Johnson said. “With nological advancement, the “The Supreme Court first accommodate our Supreme this new system, lawyers can development of a mobile app. announced the creation of Court’s rules and get every- now look at their course list “We are very proud of the the program in September thing up and running on a online, so they have a com- system we have put in 2005,” said MCLE Board limited budget.” plete record of their credits.” place,” Jochner said. “Illinois Director Karen Litscher When it initially launched, The new system has been is a leader in the nation for Johnson. “The board met for Brooks said the board pro- in development with MCLE and we aspire to keep the first time that December vided service to about 80,000 providers since 2019 and that position. We are always and then in April 2006 they licensed attorneys and 1,000 became available on April 30 looking forward to what’s hired their first staff mem- course providers throughout for use by attorneys in the yet to come and we believe ber, which was me. We offi- the state. Today it serves upcoming reporting period. that, for the MCLE Board, cially moved into our office more than 97,000 attorneys Johnson said the new sys- the past, present, and future in June, so that’s the and 1,800 providers. tem has received “a lot of are very bright.” Copyright © 2021 Law Bulletin Media. All rights reserved. Reprinted with permission from Law Bulletin Media.