The Continuing Legal Education Board (CLE Board) of the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania is considering recommending to the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania that it adopt new Amendments to Rule 105 of the Pennsylvania Rules for Continuing Legal Education and Section 3 of the applicable Regulations for Continuing Legal Education.

The proposed Rule and Regulation changes will, if adopted, rename the Ethics category to Ethics and Professionalism and create a one-time mandatory ethics and professionalism component of the CLE requirement for training on Diversity, Inclusion and Anti-Bias and Sexual Harassment Awareness and Prevention.

Specifically, the proposed Rule and Regulation changes, if adopted, will:

• Maintain the present 12-credit annual requirement with the substantive credit requirement to remain at 10;
• Rename the ''Ethics'' category, to ''Ethics and Professionalism,'' preserving the requirement of at least two credits annually; and
• Require that by the conclusion of a lawyer's second full compliance period following adoption, each attorney must obtain one Diversity, Inclusion and Anti-Bias Training (collectively ''Diversity'') credit and one Sexual Harassment Awareness and Prevention Training (collectively,Sexual Harassment'') credit, each related to lawyers and the practice of law, which shall be tracked by the CLE Board as Ethics and Professionalism credits and included as part of what is currently an attorney's annual two-credit Ethics requirement.

The net result of this proposed rule and regulation change would be that by the conclusion of a lawyer's second full compliance period following implementation of this proposed rule and regulation change, every Pennsylvania attorney will have taken at least one hour of Diversity Training and at least one hour of Sexual Harassment Training. Subject to further Order of the Pennsylvania Supreme Court, this requirement then terminates as to each lawyer upon completion of such coursework, although lawyers then will have the option of taking additional Diversity Training and Sexual Harassment Training coursework within the basket of available Ethics and Professionalism courses. Newly admitted attorneys will also have additional exposure to such categories through the Bridge the Gap program.

The CLE Board spent considerable time evaluating whether such training should be mandatory and concluded that some level of mandated requirement was needed to address these issues. The CLE Board was mindful of the levels of concern that all attorneys participate in some type of meaningful programming addressing Diversity and Sexual Harassment Training issues. Without some type of mandated training, many attorneys who would benefit from better understanding of these workplace issues would not even consider the relevance to their practice or the positive impact such training may have on their law firm or their practice. Ultimately, the CLE Board concluded that the mere availability of such coursework is insufficient to address these topics and to ensure a comprehensive dialogue takes place among Pennsylvania licensed attorneys—a dialogue facilitated through continuing legal education requirements.

The CLE Board also makes note of a relevant diversity initiative it has undertaken in recent years. Through a partnership with the Carnegie Mellon University Entertainment and Technology center, the CLE Board developed an interactive educational experience, entitled, Objection which explores diversity and bias issues in the legal profession.

This scenario-based ethics program is made available to Pennsylvania Accredited Providers and is regularly offered to lawyers throughout the Commonwealth. The CLE Board is committed to working with course providers to develop a catalogue of meaningful training options in subjects of Diversity and Sexual Harassment Prevention. These efforts will not only facilitate compliance with the proposed ethics and professionalism requirement but also spread awareness of compelling issues and help reinforce a principled and non- discriminatory legal infrastructure in Pennsylvania.

More information on the proposed changes and the specific language oof the changes can be viewed in the announcement posted to the Pennsylvania Bulletin.

Interested persons are invited to submit written comments to the proposed amendments on or before January 5, 2023. Comments should be submitted by email to kbuggy@pacle.org or regular mail addressed to the Continuing Legal Education Board of the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, 601 Commonwealth Avenue, Suite 3400, PO Box 62495, Harrisburg, PA 17106-2495.