How many hours of MCLE credit do California lawyers need to earn?

California attorneys must earn 25 hours of MCLE credit every three years. 

A California attorneys' MCLE compliance deadline is dictated by the first letter of their last name. (See below.)

What are the specialized categories/requirements for California lawyer MCLE compliance?

The 25 hours of MCLE that California attorneys must earn every three years must include:

• Legal Ethics - 4 hours
• Substance Abuse - 1 hour
• Elimination of Bias - 1 hour

What's the difference between Participatory and Self-Study MCLE credit?

In order to qualify for participatory MCLE credit in California, the provider must be able to verify the attorney's participation and completion of the MCLE exercise and keep appropriate records of such that must be available to the Bar upon request.

The California State Bar MCLE rules require a minimum of 12.5 of an attorney's 25 MCLE hours to be Participatory.

California attorneys can earn all of their MCLE credit online.

• Group 3 (N-Z) California MCLE Compliance Period: 2/1/2011 - 1/31/2014 
  • California MCLE Reporting Deadline 2/1/2014
• Group 2 (H-M) California MCLE Compliance Period: 2/1/2012 - 1/31/2015 
  • California MCLE Reporting Deadline 2/1/2012
• Group 1 (A-G) California MCLE Compliance Period: 2/1/2013 - 1/31/2016
  
  • California MCLE Reporting Deadline 2/1/2016

California attorneys are required to report their MCLE compliance by February 1 online via their "My State Bar" profile.

California Attorneys can earn all of their required 25 hours online with Internet For Lawyers' interactive MCLE exercises. Internet For Lawyers' exercises are designed to help Attorneys locate information on the Internet that can be useful to the cases they handle in their practices. We offer a total of 26 hours of California MCLE exercises from which lawyers can choose. Of these MCLE credit hours, 16 hours qualify for Participatory California MCLE credit and 10 qualify for Self-Study California MCLE credit.

For more information on our MCLE exercises and special package prices for multi-hour bundles, see http://www.netforlawyers.com/online_mcle_catalog.htm.

Internet For Lawyers is a California State Bar approved MCLE provider (number 9836).

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FOUR HOURS - LEGAL ETHICS

Add exercises below to your cart, create your own bundle of any 4 hours or more, and save 25% with discount code 2015MCLE25.

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SIX HOURS - LEGAL ETHICS, ELIMINATION OF BIAS & SUBSTANCE ABUSE

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ANY FOUR HOURS

Add exercises below to your cart, create your own bundle of any 4 hours or more, and save 25% with discount code 2015MCLE25.

ANY SIX HOURS

Add exercises below to your cart, create your own bundle of any 4 hours or more, and save 25% with discount code 2015MCLE25.

ANY EIGHT HOURS

Add exercises below to your cart, create your own bundle of any 4 hours or more, and save 25% with discount code 2015MCLE25.

Add exercises below to your cart, create your own bundle of any 4 hours or more, and save 25% with discount code 2015MCLE25.

The post Online Continuing Legal Education (MCLE) Catalog for California Attorneys & Paralegals appeared first on Continuing Legal Education (MCLE) in California, MCLE Los Angeles, CLE Orange County, Irvine & San Francisco.

FAQs | Accessing Materials | What if I've Already Paid? | MCLE Video & Webinars | Information for Lawyers | Information for Paralegals | Deadlines

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

Click here to read answers to Frequently Asked Questions regarding completing and certifying California MCLE exercises completed with Internet For Lawyers.

ACCESS ALL MCLE EXERCISES AND ASSOCIATED MATERIALS

Click here to access the entire list of online MCLE exercises and associated reading materials.

California, Arizona & New York attorneys can also view the list of Online MCLE Quizzes

Select individual Continuing Legal Education exercises below, or visit our online MCLE catalog for money-saving multi-course bundles.

IF YOU HAVE ALREADY PAID FOR MCLE CREDITS

If you have already purchased individual exercises or multi-hour MCLE bundles, check your e-mail for a message containing instructions/links to access the exercise. Click here to visit a page with links to all of the associated reading materials. Note that the exercises themselves also include links to the reading materials.

Or, to locate MCLE exercises in particular categories, click subject areas below to locate quizzes, or click here to access the entire list of online MCLE exercises and associated reading materials.

• Elimination of Bias
• Prevention, Detection & Treatment of Substance Abuse
• Legal Ethics
• Law Practice Management
• General

RECORDED VIDEO & LIVE WEBINAR PROGRAMS

• See our new California MCLE video site CaliforniaVideoMCLE for video MCLE courses based on our books and live presentations.
• See our new CLEseminars.com MCLE webinar site law practice management, technology, and legal ethics webinars presented by some of the leading authorities in these areas.
  • MCLE credit for attending these webinars is currently available in the following jurisdictions:
  • Alabama | Alaska | California | Kansas | Missouri | Oklahoma | Wyoming

CALIFORNIA MCLE INFORMATION FOR LAWYERS & ATTORNEYS

California Legal Ethics, Elimination of Bias in the Practice of Law, Prevention, Detection & Treatment of Substance Abuse, Law Practice Management, or General Self-Study Continuing Legal Education credit may be earned online for only $20.00 per hour (when reading accompanying articles or code sections when applicable and answering related quiz questions). The exams can be viewed online for free prior to taking them by clicking the links above. For Attorneys or Paralegals requiring multiple hours, we have created a number of money-saving multi-course bundles. Save over $60 when completing 13 hours of our Continuing Legal Education courses online.

Additionally, these quizzes qualify for CLE credit for Arizona Attorneys. Courses offering two hours of credit also qualify for credit for New York lawyers. Attorneys in other jurisdictions may be able to submit the California MCLE Certificate of Completion for MCLE credit if they can claim credit for credits in their home jurisdictions from exercises earned from California MCLE providers. Internet For Lawyers is a California State Bar approved MCLE provider (California MCLE provider number #9836). 

Internet For Lawyers also custom-designs in-person MCLE training seminars for individuals, your practice group, law firm or professional organization. For more information, contact us at seminars@netforlawyers.com or 310/559-1632 - or view our online continuing legal education seminar calendar for our schedule of upcoming live MCLE events.

CALIFORNIA MCLE INFORMATION FOR PARALEGALS

*In the year 2000, the California State Assembly passed a bill (AB 1761) outlining, among other things, new MANDATORY continuing legal education requirements for Paralegals. The Bill provides under Business & Professions Section 6450 paragraph d that "all continuing education courses shall meet the requirements of [Business & professions Code] Section 6070.

Per Section 6070 only courses offered by State Bar of California approved MCLE providers are recognized when considering MCLE credit hours earned.

Additionally, the State Bar has gone on record stating that "If an activity is geared toward Paralegals or attended only by Paralegals, the activity DOES NOT qualify for MCLE credit and therefore does not meet either the Attorney's or the Paralegal's requirements."

When taking live or online MCLE courses, Attorneys and Paralegals should be certain that the provider is certified by the California State Bar.

Internet For Lawyers' California State Bar MCLE is a California State Bar approved MCLE provider (California MCLE provider #9836). 

Also in 2000, the California State Senate passed a bill (SB144) instructing the State Bar to "ensure that by July 1, 2000, any member possessing or having access to the internet or specified generally available computer technology shall be capable of satisfying the full self-study portion of his or her MCLE requirement [online] ... " (Paragraph d).

The Bar also allows Self-Study CREDIT online MCLE if the provider keeps record of the attorneys' usage of the materials. Internet For Lawyers keeps these records, and therefore our quizzes are eligible for Self-Study credit.

For a full list of the upcoming California State Bar MCLE deadlines visit click here.

For the full text of California Senate Bill 144 (2000) click here.

The post Online MCLE appeared first on Continuing Legal Education (MCLE) in California, MCLE Los Angeles, CLE Orange County, Irvine & San Francisco.

Lawyers looking for evidence need to start thinking about looking "virtually." With increasing amounts of "paperless" information being added to the Internet every minute of every day, there is an increasing chance lawyers could find potentially relevant evidence there. Evidence to prove or refute a point in contention, get the upper hand in a settlement conference, or decide whether to even take a client’s case, might be found in both the near and far reaches of the Internet. Taking a virtual look at the "near reaches" of the Internet means searching the Website of the person or company being researched. More often than not, useful information will be posted there that can be used as evidence. For example, after being attacked by skin-heads, a client learned that his name, address, and picture, along with a call to action to attack him, had been posted on a skin-head organization’s website. When the lawyer accessed the website, the information about his client had been removed. Not willing to give up, he turned to his teenaged nephew who advised him that the old web pages might be stored at the Internet Archive Way Back Machine (archive.org), a non-profit organization that stores old Web pages to preserve virtual history.

Archive.org

While this lawyer did find the incriminating pages at Archive.org, if he had not, this would not have necessarily proven they had never appeared on the skin-head site because: (1) the Internet Archive does not archive every page of every Web site; (2) there is a six to 18-month (or more) delay before pages are archived on the Internet Archive site; and (3) Web site owners can request their site not be archived. If a Web site owner has requested that their site not be archived, this fact appears in the search results at Archive.org. In that case, the lawyer at least would surmise that the site owner had something to hide and could attempt to subpoena the pages from the site owner.

Getting Archive.org Pages Admitted into Evidence

Once a lawyer finds evidence on an Internet Web site, the next step is to get the pages admitted into evidence. Getting Internet evidence admitted should be no different than getting other traditional evidence admitted: it must be (1) relevant; (2) authentic; and (3) admissible. But, getting pages into evidence from the Archive.org, in particular, may prove more difficult than getting pages from other Web sites (which are currently on the Web), into evidence.

In the skin head beating case, it would seem obvious that the evidence is relevant. Showing that the evidence was authentic could be accomplished by pointing to an unreported case, Telewizja Polska USA, Inc. v. Echostar Satellite, Case No. 02C3293 (N.D. Ill. Oct. 15, 2004), available at http://www.scribd.com/doc/45878902/Telewizja-Polska-Internet-Archive-Case (see pages 13-15 of the document), where federal court Magistrate Keys, in a motion in limine, rejected defendant’s claim thatWweb pages from the Internet Archive's Wayback Machine were unreliable. Instead, the Magistrate found that Federal Rules of Evidence Rule 901 "requires only a prima facie showing of genuineness and leaves it to the jury to determine the true authenticity…"of the archived Web pages. The Magistrate also explained that the Internet Archive Web pages were: 

• not hearsay
• not “statements” but merely images and text showing what the Web site once looked like
• admissions by a party-opponent.

Everything we have read about the Telewijza Polska case cites to the Magistrate's reasoning, except for one article that asserts that District Court Judge Ronald Guzman overruled Magistrate Keys' findings at the actual trial, Telewizja Polska USA, Inc. v. Echostar Satellite, Case No. 03293 (N.D. Ill. 2004). Strangely enough, the article is from Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wayback_Machine#Telewizja_Polska), not necessarily considered a trusted source. The Wikipedia article offers no citation to back up its assertion that Judge Guzman overruled Magistrate Keys. In fact, the only citation is to an article in the Journal of Internet Law that only cites to the Magistrate's decision.

After sifting through many documents at Pacer, we were unable to find the judge's overruling opinion, but we were informed by an attorney at one of our seminars that he had confirmed the Wikipedia assertions by phoning one of the attorneys involved in the case.

This is what the Wikipedia article stated Judge Guzman held:

• The Internet Archive employee’s affidavit and underlying Web pages (Telewizja Polska Web site) were not admissible as evidence.
• The employee's affidavit contained hearsay and inconclusive supporting statements.
• The purported Web page printouts were not self-authenticating.

Be Sure to Authenticate Evidence From the Internet

As an attorney attempting to authenticate evidence from the Internet, it is important to prove when the research was done. This can be accomplished by having the researcher sign a declaration explaining how, and on what date, the researcher found the Web page evidence on the Internet. To further authenticate the evidence from a Web site, the web page should be printed out--with the URL listed. It would also be advisable to print any page on the Web site that indicates who owns the site. This is usually found on the "About Us" page. (Searching a domain registry, such as Betterwhois.com, to verify ownership is not necessarily going to yield the true owner of the Web site because domain registries do not verify that real names are used.)

Admissability of Archive.org Pages

Because Telewizja Polska is an unreported case (and not binding on other courts) and because the Judge and the Magistrate came to opposite conclusions as noted above, we do not have a definitive answer as to whether pages from the Archive.org could overcome hearsay objections. As to the admissibility of pages other than Archive.org being admitted into evidence, it will vary from judge to judge.

Even Judges are now Using the Internet to Make Judicial Decisions

As recently as 1999, a district court cautioned against relying on data from the Internet as "voodoo information." St. Clair v. Johnny’s Oyster & Shrimp, 76 F. Supp. 2d 773, 775 (S.D. Tex. 1999). Fortunately, today, not only are judges admitting information from the Internet into evidence (as illustrated by the Telewizja case), but judges are even conducting their own Internet research to help make judicial decisions. For example, in a recent Indiana decision, the court was incredulous that the plaintiff failed to "Google" the missing defendant as part of his due diligence process. The court noted that the investigative technique of merely calling directory assistance to find a missing defendant has gone "the way of the horse and buggy and the eight track stereo" as a consequence of the Internet. The court upheld the defendant’s claim of insufficient service of process and affirmed the dismissal of the case. The court stated, "We do note that there is no evidence in this case of a public records or Internet search for Groce…to find him. In fact, we [the judge] discovered, upon entering 'Joe Groce Indiana' into the Google™ search engine, an address for Groce that differed from either address used in this case, as well as an apparent obituary for Groce’s mother that listed numerous surviving relatives who might have known his whereabouts." Munster v. Groce, 829 N.E.2d 52 (Ind. App. 2005) available at http://caselaw.lp.findlaw.com/data2/indianastatecases/app/06080501mpb.pdf. On appeal, the plaintiff could argue that there was no proof that the data found by the judge had been available on the Internet at the time plaintiff searched for the defendant.

In Dubois v. Butler, Case nos. 4d04-3559 and 4d04-3561 (FL App, 2005) available at http://caselaw.findlaw.com/fl-district-court-of-appeal/1028016.html, the court noted as a consequence of the internet that the investigative technique of merely calling directory assistance to find a missing defendant has gone "the way of the horse and buggy and the eight track stereo." The court quashed the service of process and dismissed the case.

In another recent case, the Louisiana Appeals court upheld a decision in which the trial court nullified a government tax sale because the original tax-delinquent owner would have been "reasonably identifiable" and locatable if the government had run a simple "Internet search" to "locate the named mortgagee." It was the trial court judge who conducted an Internet search and determined that the owner was "reasonably identifiable." Part of the basis of the appeal was whether or not it was appropriate for the judge to conduct such a search at all to determine this. The Appeals court dismissed this argument, saying "Nevertheless, we find any error the trial court may have committed by conducting the internet search is harmless, because the trial court's ultimate conclusion that the tax sale violated Dr. Weatherly's due process rights is legally correct." Weatherly v. Optimum Asset Management, 928 So.2d 118 (La. App. 2005), available at http://www.la-fcca.org/Opinions/PUB2005/2005-12/2004CA2734Dec2005.Pub.10.pdf.

Look Beyond the Near Reaches of the Internet: Social Networking Sites, Blogs, Podcasts & Videos

To find potentially relevant evidence, lawyers also need to look beyond the near reaches of the Internet, which would be a person or company’s Web site, and into the far reaches of the Internet. Some of the "far reaches" could include new types of Web content such as social network sites (myspace.com or facebook.com) or blogs (http://blogsearch.google.com), podcasts (Podcast Alley), and videos (youtube.com).

People often drop their guard when they are posting to these types of sites. Not only can their written words be readily displayed to a jury, but so can their behavior, attitude, or tone of voice, all heard or viewed from an audio or video tape, or a still picture placed on the Internet. For instance, Hugh Foskett might have had a better chance at winning the Seattle’s 43rd district state house seat in 2006, if pictures from his facebook.com page, showing behavior unbecoming to a candidate, had not been publicized. (Social networking sites are no longer “just for kids.” All ages are beginning to add their profiles and pictures.)

Look Beyond the Near Reaches of the Internet: Dating & Reunion Web Sites and Google Groups

Lawyers should also look to other far reaches of the Internet not traditionally thought of as useful to serious researchers, such as dating sites (match.com), reunion sites (classmates.com) and discussion groups such as those searchable at Google Groups—all places where people post personal information. A divorce lawyer shared an incident where, at a settlement conference, they were proffered embarrassing information that their client had posted to a dating Web site. Admissibility was not at issue, since the parties were not at trial, and in fact, admissibility was not really the husband’s goal. Simply gaining the upper hand or unsettling the wife was the goal, which apparently was met.

Learning that your client was on methadone might be an important piece of evidence in a case where your client allegedly caused an accident. If your client failed to inform you of this, searching the client’s name at Google Groups might reveal this interesting fact if the client participated in online discussions and divulged such information (in our case, the person was on a migraine headache discussion group and mentioned his methadone maintenance in passing).

Do People Post Using Their Real Names?

It's important to remember that many people do not use their real names when posting to discussion groups. In those cases, searching by the poster's e-mail address might yield more useful results, assuming you know their e-mail address (or addresses). In contrast, people posting profiles at classmates.com do tend to use their real names—since they are trying to hook up with former friends. Thus, classmates.com is a perfect place to search for evidence. At Classmates.com, people often post information about where they work (or worked), attended school, or served in the military. These are the bits and pieces of information that might be the very evidence a lawyer is looking for.

Finding Information From Different File Formats Posted to the Web

Lawyers can sometimes unearth evidence from a PowerPoint presentation, an Excel spreadsheet, or a Word document posted to the Internet. By using Google.com’s advanced search page, a search can be limited to one of these file formats. While evidence from a PowerPoint presentation might show up in the PowerPoint slide, be sure to view the presentation in the “editing” mode to read the presenter’s outline and notes—where more evidence might be lurking.

Have Potential Evidence Automatically Collected and Delivered to Your E-mail In-box

Attorneys can even have potential evidence automatically collected and delivered to their email in-box by using Google's Alert service (http://www.google.com/alerts). While Google Alerts originally monitored only news based on the researcher’s key words (e.g., a topic, a company name, or a person’s name), monitoring has been expanded to Web sites, Google Groups, and most recently to Blogs. Thus, if the topic, the person, or the company one is gathering evidence about is mentioned in the news, on a Web site, in a Google Group discussion e-mail, or on a blog, attorneys will be automatically alerted and can add the information to their pot of evidence.

Conclusion

As useful as the Internet is in helping to find evidence, it cannot be expected to show how the evidence is relevant or how to authenticate it and get it admitted into evidence. That’s still your job!

The post Looking For Evidence in Virtual Places Admissibility of Internet Evidence appeared first on Continuing Legal Education (MCLE) in California, MCLE Los Angeles, CLE Orange County, Irvine & San Francisco.

Congratulations on selecting one of our individual online continuing legal education exercises or one of our 4-, 6-, or 13-hour Continuing Legal Education (MCLE) compliance packages. Note that these Continuing Legal Education (MCLE) exercises qualify for Self-study California MCLE credit. In January 2019, we moved our text-based MCLE exercises to a new service provider. If you had bookmarked this page in the past, you can now find our online MCLE quizzes at this page. Save 25% With Our California MCLE Self-Study Bundles. Use the Discount Code IFL25.     Click here to read answers to Frequently Asked Questions regarding completing and certifying California MCLE exercises completed with Internet For Lawyers.
COURSE DESCRIPTION	READ ARTICLE	BUY NOW
LEGAL ETHICS EXERCISES (complete any FOUR of the following)
Legal Ethics Considerations for Lawyers' Use of Cloud Computing Services (one hour Self-study California MCLE credit)	MCLE ARTICLE
American Bar Association's Formal Ethics Opinion 10-457 Covering Attorneys' Use of Web Sites to Market Their Practices (one hour Self-study California MCLE credit)	INCLUDED IN QUIZ
How to Network Comfortably and Ethically (one hour Self-study California MCLE credit)	MCLE ARTICLE
The Ethical Case For Client Satisfaction (one hour Self-study California MCLE credit)	MCLE ARTICLE
Contacting Unrepresented Persons via Social Networking Sites - New York State Bar and Philadelphia Bar Ethics Opinions (one hour Self-study California MCLE credit)	MCLE ARTICLE
Contacting Unrepresented Persons via Social Networking Sites - New York City Bar Ethics Opinion (one hour Self-study California MCLE credit)	MCLE ARTICLE
Should You or Shouldn't You? Legal Advertising in California (one hour Self-study California MCLE credit)	INCLUDED IN QUIZ
Ethics of Attorney Web Sites in California (one hour Self-study California MCLE credit)	MCLE ARTICLE
Adhering to the California State Bar Rules of Professional Conduct (one hour Self-study California MCLE credit)	INCLUDED IN QUIZ
Ethical Requirements of Attorney Oversight & Supervision of Paralegal Staff in California (one hour Self-study California MCLE credit)	INCLUDED IN QUIZ
ELIMINATION OF BIAS EXERCISES (complete either of the following)
Diversity Makes Cents: The Business Case for Diversity (one hour Self-study California MCLE credit)	MCLE ARTICLE
Pipeline Programs Enhance Diversity in the Legal Profession  (one hour Self-study California MCLE credit)	MCLE ARTICLE
SUBSTANCE ABUSE EXERCISES (complete the following)
California Lawyers' Assistance Program-Prevention, Detection & Treatment of Substance Abuse (one hour Self-study California MCLE credit)	INCLUDED IN QUIZ
GENERAL CONTINUING LEGAL EDUCATION (LAW PRACTICE MANAGEMENT) EXERCISES
Congress.gov: How to Search for Federal Bills, Laws, the Congressional Record, and Committee Reports (one hour Self-study California MCLE credit)	MCLE ARTICLE
How to Research the U.S. Code Online (two hours Self-study California MCLE credit)	MCLE ARTICLE
From Due Diligence to Corporate Intelligence (two hours Self-study California MCLE credit)	MCLE ARTICLE-CURRENTLY BEING UPDATED
Finding Government Documents on the Internet (one hour Self-study California MCLE credit)	MCLE ARTICLE
How Public Are Public Records? (one hour Self-study California MCLE credit)	MCLE ARTICLE
Free California Internet Legal Research (two hours Self-study California MCLE credit)	MCLE ARTICLE	MCLE QUIZ-CURRENTLY BEING UPDATED
Finding Entertainment Law Resources Online: From Scholarship to Scandal (two hours Self-study California MCLE credit)	MCLE ARTICLE-CURRENTLY BEING UPDATED	MCLE QUIZ-CURRENTLY BEING UPDATED
Looking For Evidence in Virtual Places: Admissibility of Internet Evidence (one hour Self-study California MCLE credit)	MCLE ARTICLE

The post Access Page for Online Legal Ethics, General, Elimination of Bias and Substance Abuse Online California MCLE Exercises appeared first on Continuing Legal Education (MCLE) in California, MCLE Los Angeles, CLE Orange County, Irvine & San Francisco.

How to Research the U.S. Code Online

Locating Government Documents on the Internet

Corporate Research

Public Records

Free California Internet Legal Research: Cases, Dockets, and Forms

Finding Entertainment Law Resources Online: From Scholarship to Scandal

Admissibility of Internet Evidence*

1 hour of self-study credit

Continuing Legal Education Online*

1 hour of self-study credit

New York and Arizona attorneys may also claim MCLE credit when completing these quizzes. (See below for more information.)

How to Research the U.S. Code Online

There are three web sites that offer free access to searchable databases of the United States Code (U.S.C.).

Even though all use the same Code (prepared by the Office of the Law Revision Counsel of the House of Representatives), the House site is more up-to-date than the GPO or Cornell site (and also goes back further in time) often making the House’s web version of the Code the preferred choice. Being "more up to date," however, does not mean current as of today. The U.S. Code is published only every six years by The Office of the Law Revision Counsel of the U.S. House of Representatives and is then supplemented on a regular basis.

Clear explanations and hyperlinks to Internet research resources lead you on a search for real-life answers to to real-life research scenarios. Read the companion article to learn how to put these resources to work for you.

Go to the quiz.

Government Document Research

Locating Government Documents on the Internet

There are literally thousands of Federal, State, and local government agencies generating documents on innumerable topics important to lawyers in their practices.

The questions in this quiz, and the accompanying fact patterns, highlight three sources for this diverse and useful data, and feature hyperlinks and explanations of the sites' search functions to take you directly there so you can learn to dig up this information for yourself.

The reading material and fact patterns are integrated into the quiz. There is no separate article that accompanies this exercise.

Go to the quiz.

Corporate Research From Due Diligence to Corporate Intelligence

Say you're working on a big case, and you need as much information on the opposing company as possible. Or perhaps you're pitching a potential new client, and want to know everything about their business for your presentation. Maybe your clientâs competition is developing a new product or you want to read all the news stories about some development that will affect your business or your clientsâ. Do you know how to get that information quickly online? And for free?

Clear explanations and hyperlinks to Internet research resources lead you on a search for a real-life answer to questions about a real-world companies.

Read the companion article to learn how to put these resources to work for you.

Go to the quiz.

Public Records

How Public Are Public Records?

The term "public record" has always been VERY misleading. Even though a record is "public" and available for public scrutiny in the strictest sense, in reality it may not be readily available. The availability of numerous public records online via the Internet has addressed some of the accessibililty issues, but just as it's always been in the "offline" world, access to free public records via the web is a hit or miss proposition.

Each question in this quiz, and the companion article, feature, an outline of the type of information included in each specific resource discussed, and a hyperlink to take you directly there so you can see for yourself.

Read the companion article to learn how to put these resources to work for you.

Go to the quiz.

Back to the top of this page.

Free California Internet Legal Research: Cases, Dockets, and Forms

On July 6, 2000, Lexis debuted LexisONE.com, the first web site to offer a FREE, FULL TEXT searchable California case-law database (back to 1996). The free LexisONE site offers almost the same robust search engine for constructing searches as the pay Lexis site. One month later, FindLaw.com (now owned by West Publishing) debuted its free California case-law database (back to 1934). The Daily Journal Corporation also offers case-law research resources free online to subscribers of its print newspapers.

Read the companion article to learn how to put these resources to work for you.

Go to the quiz.

Finding Entertainment Law Resources Online: From Scholarship to Scandal

Type “entertainment” into the Google search engine, and "about 162,000,000" results appear with E! Online topping the list. Type “entertainment law” into the Google search engine, and about 40,000,000 results are listed, with a Beverly Hills entertainment attorney's site listed first, and the Hastings Communications and Entertainment Law Journal (COMM/ENT) not far behind. From the lowbrow to the highbrow, these searches offer an excellent summary of the range of online sources that entertainment attorneys use to stay informed. More specific questions can be addressed by refining one’s search techniques.

Read the companion article to learn how to put these resources to work for you.

Go to the quiz.

Back to the top of this page.

Admissibility of Internet Evidence

Looking For Evidence in Virtual Places

Lawyers looking for evidence need to start thinking about looking “virtually.” With increasing amounts of "paperless" information being added to the Internet every minute of every day, there is an increasing chance lawyers could find potentially relevant evidence there. Evidence to prove or refute a point in contention, get the upper hand in a settlement conference, or decide whether to even take a client’s case, might be found in both the near and far reaches of the Internet.

Read the companion article to learn how to put these resources to work for you.

Go to the quiz.*
This exercise is eligible for 1 hour of SELF-STUDY credit.

Continuing Legal Education Online

Online MCLE Update: CLE To Go

If you are an attorney or paralegal, probably no day goes by in which you do not receive e-mail about online continuing legal education. As recently as 2000, however, you would not have received any, because the State Bar of California did not approve online continuing education courses until then. Since 2000, online continuing education offerings have evolved to meet increased demand. This article and quiz outline how legal professionals can meet their Continuing Legal Education requirements online.

Read the companion article to learn how to put these resources to work for you.

Go to the quiz.*
This exercise is eligible for 1 hour of SELF-STUDY credit.

NEW YORK: Any of these courses exceeding 60 minutes in length (Corporate Research, Conducting Free California Case Law Research, Finding Entertainment Law Resources Online) are eligible for the amount of CLE credit indicated on each respective quiz under New York's approved jurisdiction procedures. Newly admitted New York attorneys may not earn CLE credit for non-traditional course formats such as this during their first two years of admission to the New York Bar.

ARIZONA: The State Bar of Arizona does not approve or accredit CLE activities for the Mandatory Continuing Legal Education requirement. This activity may qualify for the amount of "Interactive" Continuing Legal Education credit indicated on each respective quiz toward your annual CLE requirement for the State Bar of Arizona, when used in conjunction with materials available on this site to actively search the Internet for exam solutions.

The post Online Law Practice Management & General Self-Study MCLE Quizzes appeared first on Continuing Legal Education (MCLE) in California, MCLE Los Angeles, CLE Orange County, Irvine & San Francisco.

California Attorneys and Paralegals can satisfy all of their required MCLE credits by completing any four of the following (ten) self-study MCLE quizzes.

Internet For Lawyers offers California Attorneys & Paralegals who wish to complete all of their Legal Ethics MCLE requirement online a package price of only $60.00 to complete all four hours here. You may elect to complete any of the four exercises listed below. (This is a $20.00 savings over the regular price of $20.00 per hour.) Click here for more information.

Completing any of the exercises below earns you one hour of California self-study Legal ethics Continuing Legal Education credit.You can select any four of the following self-study MCLE exercises to complete your entire California Continuing Legal Education requirement of four hours of Legal Ethics credit and pay only $15/credit-hour.

(Note that some of these Legal Ethics MCLE exercises have reading material included in the quiz, while others have a separate article associated with them.)

Legal Ethics Considerations for Lawyers' Use of Cloud Computing Services

We often get questions about the security of "cloud computing" services like Google Apps and whether that security is tight enough for lawyers to use them. Google Apps, for example, meets the security standards put in place for the online storage of government agencies' information set out in the Federal Information Security Management Act of 2000 (FISMA 44 U.S.C. § 3541, et seq.). The ABA recently adopted changes to the Model Rules of Professional Conduct dealing with the question of whether and how lawyers might deal with "confidentiality issues arising from technology." The changes were, "designed to give lawyers more guidance regarding their confidentiality- related obligations when using technology." This excercise provides a compilation and overview of the existing Ethics Opinions produced, to date, by Bar Associations around the country.

Read the Article | Go to the Quiz

ABA Formal Opinion 10-457 Dealing With Lawyer Websites
As early as 1996, many state bar associations began issuing formal (or advisory) ethics opinions on the ethical uses of Internet technology. Many of those opinions relating to Web sites and online communications apply the advertising rules that already exist for print advertising. In the late Summer of 2010, the American Bar Association issued its Formal Opinion 10-457 discussing ethical concerns for lawyers who maintain Web sites.

Go to the Quiz

Client Service: The Ethical Case for Keeping Clients Satisfied
If you ask most attorneys whether their clients are satisfied, the vast majority would, of course, say "yes." If you then ask them "what makes you so sure?" the responses would typically range from "They don’t complain" and "They’re nice to me" to "They pay their bills" or "They continue to do business with us." A closer examination of these reasons, however, reveals that such client behavior hardly indicates satisfaction.

Read the Article | Go to the Quiz

How to Network Comfortably and Ethically
Everyone knows that, much like diet and exercise, networking is good for you and that, similarly, there are lots of excuses for avoiding it. This exercise applies specific Rules of Professional Conduct to effective networking strategies.

Read the Article | Go to the Quiz

Contacting Unrepresented Persons via Social Networking Sites - New York State Bar and Philadelphia Bar Ethics Opinions
More and more attorneys and judges are using social media. Some use it for its intended purpose of social networking (and, for the lesser intended purpose of marketing). Others take advantage of the information contained in these sites for an unintended purpose - investigative research. Legal pundits have argued (online and in print) about the ethical issues for attorneys utilizing this information in the matters they handle. Few Bar Associations have opined on the topic. Two exceptions are the Philadelphia Bar and the New York State Bar. They addressed the specific questions of whether it is ethical for an attorney to ask a non-lawyer assistant to "friend" an unrepresented witness even if the non-lawyer uses her real name but without also disclosing the reasons for making the request? Learn which ethics rules that these Ethics Opinions point out for potential violation by this activity.

Read the Article | Go to the Quiz

Contacting Unrepresented Persons via Social Networking Sites - New York City Bar Ethics Opinion
The Association of the Bar of the City of New York considered a question similar to the one presented to the New York State Bar and the Philadelphia Bar. The New York City Bar's Committee on Professional and Judicial Ethics' Opinion 2010-2 (Sept. 2010) concluded that there would be no violation of the rules of professional conduct if an attorney or her agent uses her real name and profile to send a "friend request" to obtain information from an unrepresented person's social networking website without also disclosing the reasons for making the request. Learn the New York City Bar's reasoning behind their decision.

Read the Article | Go to the Quiz

California Legal Ethics Quiz; Legal Advertising Should You or Shouldn't You?
There are numerous ethical considerations one makes in the day to day practice of law. While some seem to follow simple common sense, others are a bit less clear.

This ten question quiz will help you learn where to easily find answers to your ethical questions utilizing free State Bar and academic resources on the Internet.

Go to the quiz

The Ethics of Attorney Web Sites in California
The Bar's standing Committee on Professional Responsibility & Conduct has issued a Formal Opinion addressing ethical issues related to attorneys announcing their services via Internet web sites. Whether you already have your own web site or are just beginning to consider launching one, this ten question quiz will help you learn where to easily find answers to ethical questions regarding your web site.

Go to the quiz.

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Adhering to the CA State Bar Rules of Professional Conduct
The California State Bar's Rules of Professional Conduct lay out very specific guidelines to regulate the professional conduct of its members - through discipline. These rules have been adopted by the Board of Governors of the Bar and approved by the Supreme Court of California pursuant to Business & Professions Code Sections 6076 and 6077 to protect the public and to promote respect and confidence in the legal profession.

This quiz is designed to give you an overview of some of the highlights of these rules to keep in mind as you build your practice.

Go to the quiz.

Ethical Requirements of Attorney Oversight & Supervision of Paralegal Staff in California
Recent changes to the California Rules of Professional Conduct spell out VERY specific requirements for minimum continuing legal education for Paralegals AND the responsibilities of Attorneys with whom they work.

This quiz is designed to give Paralegals AND Attorneys an overview of how these rules affect EACH of them.

Go to the quiz.

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The post Online Legal Ethics MCLE Quizzes for California Lawyers & Paralegals appeared first on Continuing Legal Education (MCLE) in California, MCLE Los Angeles, CLE Orange County, Irvine & San Francisco.

GROUP 2 - California attorneys with last names H-M
Next California MCLE compliance deadline for period 2/1/12 - 1/31/15 is Feb. 2, 2015

GROUP 1 - California attorneys with last names A-G
Next California MCLE compliance deadline for period 2/1/13 - 1/31/16 is Feb. 1, 2016

GROUP 3 - California attorneys with last names N-Z
Next California MCLE compliance deadline for period 2/1/14 - 1/31/17 is Feb. 1, 2017

Answers to other frequently asked questions about California MCLE compliance and requirements can be found at https://www.netforlawyers.com/page/california-mcle.

The California Business and Professions Code and the State Bar of California require active attorneys, except those statutorily exempt, to take 25 hours of continuing legal education courses (MCLE) every three years, including four hours of legal ethics, and one hour each of elimination of bias and detection and prevention of substance abuse or mental illness. Lawyers must keep documentation for at least a year after their compliance is due.

Historically, California attorneys have submitted affirmation of their compliance with their MCLE requirements on a paper California MCLE Compliance Card. Now, in lieu of submitting a paper compliance card, California attorneys are encouraged to report their compliance online through their online  My California State Bar Profile.

Every month the Internet For Lawyers' free newsletter delivers Internet legal research and marketing information to your e-mail inbox, as well as updates to our calendar of upcoming seminars and events.

The post California Bar MCLE Compliance Deadlines appeared first on Continuing Legal Education (MCLE) in California, MCLE Los Angeles, CLE Orange County, Irvine & San Francisco.

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The term "public record" has always been VERY misleading. Even though a record is "public" and available for public scrutiny in the strictest sense, in reality it may not be readily available. The availability of numerous public records via the Internet has addressed some of the accessibility issues, but just as it's always been in the "offline" world, access to free public records via the web is a hit or miss proposition.

What's available varies greatly from state to state, with many states differing greatly on what is and is not considered "public". For example, until recently some states, such as Tennessee, considered driving records to be "public" while others, such as California, did not. The US Supreme Court recently ruled (docket number 98-1464, decided January 12, 2000) that driving records are not "public" records, and therefore will only be available on a VERY limited basis in every state.

Some states, such as Florida (http://www.dos.state.fl.us/), not only have a plethora of free public record information on the web (such as UCCs, trademark owner names, corporate records and annual reports), they also provide the actual images of the full public record.

Even when information is considered "public," agencies still may not provide free Web access to the information. In these instances, we're no better off than we were 10 years ago, and are forced to use either to a fee-based commercial database, messengers or "snail mail".

FREE PUBLIC RECORDS META-SITES

For an excellent low-cost meta-site that lists which states do provide free public records via the Web, go to Search Systems at http://www.searchsystems.net, which provides links to those states. From Search Systems you can view information about the New York State Department of Health's Physician Discipline page at http://www.health.state.ny.us/nysdoh/opmc/main.htm, the Texas state Comptroller's Corporations Search at https://ourcpa.cpa.state.tx.us/coa/Index.html, and Nevada bankruptcies at http://www.nvb.uscourts.gov/, among numerous other links. Clicking on the links to any of the thousands of resources in SearchSystems' collection is once again free.

The California list provides links to public records such as a database of which insurance companies are admitted to do business in California (along with complaint information), the Unclaimed Property database and the docket sheet and actual documents from the U.S. Bankruptcy Court, S.D. Another useful meta-site that is maintained by BRB Publications contains links to more than 300 local, state and federal websites at http://www.brbpub.com/pubrecsites.asp. These include vital statistics in Colorado (http://www.cdphe.state.co.us/certs/) and death certificates in Maine (http://portal.maine.gov/death) and Kentucky (http://ukcc.uky.edu:80/~vitalrec/), as well as corporate records (California's Secretary of State added its corporate records in late 1999 at http://kepler.sos.ca.gov/) and select county assessor records of numerous states.

MEDICAL LICENSES

For free public access to professionals' licensing records (such as doctors and lawyers), many states, like Florida (https://www.myfloridalicense.com/wl11.asp) and California (http://www2.dca.ca.gov/pls/wllpub/wllquery$.startup), offer access to all their licensing boards from one central page. You can link to professional license information on all 50 states from Search Systems at http://www.searchsystems.net.

To verify medical licenses, you can also check AIM's DocFinder site at http://www.docboard.org/, which links to many states' medical licensing boards. Click on "California" or go directly to the California state agency that licenses doctors by typing in http://www.mbc.ca.gov/.

To locate more public information about doctors, check their associations' web site to discover what type of information is available (in addition to licensing information), such as disciplinary or biographical information. The American Medical Association is at http://www.ama-assn.org/; the Texas Medical Association is at http://www.texmed.org/; and if you're looking for a list of medical associations in Haiti, you'll find it at http://www.haitimedical.com/aso.htm.

Links to other select medical associations can be found at http://dir.yahoo.com/Health/Medicine/Organizations/Professional/ Medical_Associations_and_Societies/.

LAWYER LICENSING

Most state bar association websites can verify whether an attorney is licensed in that state. In California, check the California State Bar's Member Records Search at http://members.calbar.ca.gov/fal/MemberSearch/QuickSearch#searchlink. History of disciplinary information, if any, is also noted. In Texas go to http://www.texasbar.com/Template.cfm?Section=Member_Directory&Template=/CustomSource/MemberDirectory/Search_Form_Client_Main.cfm. Or in Florida try http://www.floridabar.org/names.nsf/MESearch?OpenForm. FindLaw lists links to the bar Associations of all 50 states at http://www.findlaw.com/06associations/state.html. However, many states do not have mandatory Bar membership for attorneys. In those states, the actual licensing is handled by a state (or quasi-state) agency or an arm of the courts. To help make it easier to locate the lawyer licensing bodies in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico, we have compiled this list of links directly to the searchable databases of licensed attorneys in those jurisdictions.

OTHER LICENSED PROFESSIONS

There are a number of other professions, from cosmetologists to funeral directors that are licensed and regulated in various states. Here, too, Search Systems at http://www.searchsystems.net can be a very helpful resource, offering links to various licensing board sites in all 50 states. Some of the hundreds of available categories include Colorado architect licensing at https://www.colorado.gov/dora/licensing/Lookup/LicenseLookup.aspx, Georgia auctioneers at https://secure.sos.state.ga.us/myverification/, New York state interior designers at http://www.op.nysed.gov/opsearches.htm, and a searchable directory of Arizona Accountants.

Information on all licensed professions in California (from Funeral Directors to Repossession Agencies) can be accessed at http://www2.dca.ca.gov/pls/wllpub/wllquery$.startup.

Search the American Institute of Architects membership at http://www.aia.org/. Select "Connect with an Architect" on the homepage. The site does not allow you to input an architect's name directly, but you can retrieve a list of members geographically (by major city) or using their firm's name.

A database of 1.5 million non-profit professional associations may also be searched to obtain information about professionals at http://www.guidestar.org/search.

CRIMINAL RECORDS

Wonder if your new neighbor is a sex offender? At http://www.prevent-abuse-now.com/register.htm, you can link to the offender registries of all 50 state law enforcement agencies and the District of Columbia. In addition to the offender databases, the site also links to the sex offender "registry laws" in those jurisdictions. At http://www.nsopw.gov/Core/Conditions.aspx, the U.S. Department of Justice has created a combined search of the sex offender databases of all 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and Guam. Individual states sex offender databases include the Illinois State Police's "Sex Offender Information" page at http://www.isp.state.il.us/sor/sor.cfm, which allows searching by city, county and zip code. For the New York state sex offender registry, see http://criminaljustice.state.ny.us/nsor/.

In more examples of the debate of what constitutes a "public" record and what does not, Texas provides free access to its sex offender database, but charges a fee to access its database of other convictions (http://records.txdps.state.tx.us/), and Oklahoma's database of sex offenders is made available at http://docapp8.doc.state.ok.us/.

North Carolina makes some criminal offender information available at http://www.doc.state.nc.us/offenders/. The searchable database includes information regarding "inmates, probationers or parolees since 1972. [The] system allows users to view and download any/all public information from the Department of Correction database for convicted offenders. [It a]lso includes information on inmate releases and escapees." Vermont (http://vsp.vermont.gov/about_us/divisions/support_services/public_information) only makes its criminal records available to non-law enforcement entities if they obtain a VCIC [Vermont Criminal Information Center] Release Form signed by the subject.

If you want to see a list and pictures of Illinois' most delinquent parents, then go to http://www.deadbeatsillinois.com/ or visit the Los Angeles County Sheriff's department at http://www.la-sheriff.org/lasd_wanted/index.html to see its Most Wanted criminals. You'll find Arizona's at http://www.azdps.gov/about/Task_Forces/Wanted/. 

The FBI's Ten Most Wanted list can be found at http://www.fbi.gov/wanted/topten.

COUNTY RECORDS

What's available at the county level? Need birth, death or marriage records? Los Angeles County and Orange County, California do not provide this data on the web. Instead, the Los Angeles site at http://www.lavote.net/recorder/BDM_Records.cfm provides detailed information on how to order these records by mail and provides the required forms. In Orange County, California, things move more quickly, for a small price, however. At the County Clerk's site at https://media.ocgov.com/gov/clerk/services/records/default.asp you are informed that you can order certified copies of birth, marriage and death certificates.

To check what type of information and documents that the counties in your state provide online, check FindLaw's links to all 50 states websites at http://www.findlaw.com/11stategov/index.html or Search Systems at http://www.searchsystems.net.

If someone has taken the time to make a social security claim for death benefits, the death record will be found in Rootsweb.com at http://ssdi.rootsweb.com/cgi-bin/ssdi.cgi.the Social Security Death Index. Most free sources have discontinued access to updated versions of the Index, but the FamilySearch.org site still makes a version that was last updated on October 31, 2011 available at https://familysearch.org/search/collection/show#uri=http://hr-search-api:8080/searchapi/search/collection/1202535.

REAL PROPERTY RECORDS

Are you trying to trace the other spouse's assets for a divorce client? The Univerity of Virginia's Portico portal site at http://www.indorgs.virginia.edu/portico/assessors.html links to many county assessors' offices that are on the web and permit owner name or address searches. In California, only eight counties will be found. The Los Angeles (CA) County Assessor's records are available and searchable via the Internet (by address only) at http://lacountyassessor.com/extranet/default.aspx. Also see http://lacountyassessor.com/extranet/Outsidesales/saleintr.aspx for information on renting or buying the records. In Orange County, California you can't even make a request over the Internet for property appraisal records, while in Orange County, Florida, the records are available free on the web.

If your county does not place its records on the Web, you may be able to find some limited home value and/or sales information at Domania (http://www.domania.com) or Zillow (http://www.zillow.com). These sites aggregate public information from multiple sources.

MILITARY RECORDS

Some personal information from U.S. Military records is available to the public, without authorization from the veteran. This includes name, rank, service number, dates of service and medals awarded. If the service person is dead, the place of birth, place of death and location of burial may also be available. No information is available via the Internet, however. Requests must be made in writing. For more information see the National Archives and Records Administration's National Personnel Records Center at http://www.archives.gov/st-louis/index.html.

That said however, there is a strong possibility that the record you want no longer exists, after a major 1973 fire that destroyed millions of U.S. Military service records. It's estimated that 80% of all U.S. Army files for personnel discharged between November 1, 1912, and January 1, 1960, as well as records for approximately 75% of U.S. Air Force personnel discharged between September 25, 1947 and January 1, 1964 (with names alphabetically after Hubbard, James E.) were destroyed. It does not appear that Navy or Marine records were affected.

Personnel records of living civilian personnel are not available to the public.

OTHER RECORDS FROM COMMERCIAL DATABASES

For access to public records such as state corporate and limited partnership records, UCCs, liens, judgments, bankruptcy records, aircraft, watercraft and stock ownership, death records and lawsuits, that you did not find in any of the sources previously listed, you will have to use a commercial database.

Fortunately, many commercial databases are available on the Web and you can pay as you go without subscribing in advance or installing their software on your computer. Some of these databases are: Westlaw at http://www.westlaw.com, Lexis at http://www.lexis.com/xchange and Choice Point (formerly CDB Infotek and now a LexisNexis company) at http://www.choicepoint.com/. KnowX at http://www.knowx.com (previously acquired by ChoicePoint and now also a LexisNexis company) is one of the fee-based public record web sites that offers per-search pricing, as well as 24-hour, 30-day, and annual subscriptions. Registration with a credit card is required. Per-search charges range from $1.50 - $24.95. Thirty-day subscriptions range from $59.95 to $124.95.

The volume and diversity of public records available for free on the Internet is truly astounding, particularly in light of the fact that most of this information has only recently been placed on the Web. Despite the widespread availability of information on the Internet, for the near-term at least, it remains a hit or miss proposition whether the specific information you might be looking for will be available. Even though new information is added to the Internet, literally, every day, that doesn't do you any good, if the material you're looking for isn't available yet.

It will still be awhile before the public has access to all "public" records from our computer desktops. In the mean time, there are still the old stand-bys like the phone, mail and commercial databases available to access this information. They'll still cost you, but the good news is, in most instances, will cost much less now than it used to.

PUBLIC RECORDS META-SITES

• Search Systems - http://www.searchsystem.net provides links to states that provide free public records via the Web.
• BRB Publications maintains a page with links to more than 300 local, state and federal websites offering free access to public records - http://www.brbpub.com/pubrecsites.asp

EXAMPLES OF AVAILABLE PUBLIC RECORD INFORMATION

• New York State Department of Health's Physician Discipline - http://www.health.state.ny.us/nysdoh/opmc/main.htm
• Texas' Comptroller of Public Accounts; Certification of Account Status Corporation Search - https://ourcpa.cpa.state.tx.us/coa/Index.html
• Nevada bankruptcies - http://www.nvb.uscourts.gov/
• Vital statistics in Colorado - http://www.cdphe.state.co.us/certs
• Death certificates in Maine - http://portal.maine.gov/death
• Death certificates in Kentucky - http://ukcc.uky.edu:80/~vitalrec/
• California's Secretary of State corporate records - http://kepler.ss.ca.gov/
• Florida Department of State - http://www.dos.state.fl.us

MEDICAL LICENSES

• Florida - http://www.doh.state.fl.us/mqa/PRAES/index.html
• California - http://www2.dca.ca.gov/pls/wllpub/wllquery$.startup (all licensed professions) or go directly to the California state agency that licenses doctors - http://www.medbd.ca.gov/.
• AIM's DocFinder - http://www.docboard.org/
• The American Medical Association - http://www.ama-assn.org/
• Texas Medical Association - http://www.texmed.org/
• Medical associations in Haiti - http://www.haitimedical.com/aso.htm
• Other select medical associations can be found at http://dir.yahoo.com/Health/Medicine/Organizations/Professional/Medical_Associations_and_Societies/

LAWYER LICENSING

• California State Bar - http://members.calbar.ca.gov/fal/MemberSearch/QuickSearch#searchlink
• Texas State Bar - http://www.texasbar.com/Template.cfm?Section=Member_Directory&Template=/CustomSource/MemberDirectory/Search_Form_Client_Main.cfm
• Florida State Bar - http://www.floridabar.org/names.nsf/MESearch?OpenForm
• FindLaw's links to the bar Associations of all 50 states - http://www.findlaw.com/06associations/state.html

OTHER LICENSED PROFESSIONS

• Here, too, Search Systems - http://www.searchsystems.net can be a very helpful resource, offering links to various licensing board sites in all 50 states.
• Colorado architect licensing - https://www.doradls.state.co.us/lic_database_req.php
• Georgia auctioneers - https://secure.sos.state.ga.us/myverification/
• New York state interior designers - http://www.op.nysed.gov/opsearches.htm
• Arizona Accountants - http://www.azaccountancy.gov/CPADirectory/CPASearch.aspx.
• California licensed professions (from Funeral Directors to Repossession Agencies) - http://www2.dca.ca.gov/pls/wllpub/wllquery$.startup.
• American Institute of Architects - http://www.aia.org/
• A database of 1.5 million non-profit professional associations - http://www.guidestar.org/search.

CRIMINAL RECORDS

• North Carolina (criminal offender information) - http://www.doc.state.nc.us/offenders/
• Vermont (information on requesting criminal records) - http://vsp.vermont.gov/about_us/divisions/support_services/public_information
• The FBI's Ten Most Wanted list - http://www.fbi.gov/wanted/topten

SEX OFFENDERS

• U.S. Department of Justice Multistate Sex Offender search - http://www.nsopw.gov/Core/Conditions.aspx
• Illinois - http://www.isp.state.il.us/sor/sor.cfm
• Washington State (select counties) - http://searchsystems.net/list.php?nid=56.
• Texas - http://records.txdps.state.tx.us/
• Oklahoma - http://docapp8.doc.state.ok.us/servlet/page?_pageid=190&_dad=portal30&_schema=PORTAL30

DELINQUENT PARENTS

• Illinois - http://www.deadbeatillinois.com
• Mississippi - http://www.dps.state.ms.us/dps/dps.nsf/webwanted?Openform&Div=mostwanted

COUNTY RECORDS

• Los Angeles County (information on ordering vital statistics) - http://www.lavote.net/recorder/BDM_Records.cfm
• Orange County, California Clerk - http://www.oc.ca.gov/recorder
• FindLaw's links to all 50 states websites - http://www.findlaw.com/11stategov/index.html
• Search Systems - http://www.searchsystems.net
• Rootsweb.com Social Security Death Index - http://ssdi.rootsweb.ancestry.com

REAL PROPERTY RECORDS

• Property Assessments Online - http://indorgs.virginia.edu/portico/personalproperty.html
• Los Angeles County Assessor (information on renting or buying the records only) - http://assessor.lacounty.gov/extranet/default.aspx
• Yahoo Real Estate sales information - http://realestate.yahoo.com/

MILITARY RECORDS

• National Archives and Records Administration's National Personnel Records Center (information to make written requests) - http://www.archives.gov/research

OTHER PUBLIC RECORDS FROM COMMERCIAL DATABASES

• Westlaw - http://www.westlaw.com
• Lexis - http://www.lexis.com/xchange
• Choice Point (formerly CDB Infotek) - http://www.choicepoint.com/ aka http://www.lexisnexis.com/risk
• KnowX - http://www.knowx.com

The post How Public Are Public Records? appeared first on Continuing Legal Education (MCLE) in California, MCLE Los Angeles, CLE Orange County, Irvine & San Francisco.

California Attorneys and Paralegals can satisfy all of their required LEgal Ethics MCLE credits by completing the following self-study MCLE quizzes.

Internet For Lawyers offers California Attorneys & Paralegals who wish to compete all of their Legal Ethics MCLE requirement online with us a package price of only $60.00 for all four hours. (This is a $20.00 savings over the regular price of $20.00 per hour.)

Additionally, you can also pay for each Legal Ethics MCLE quiz individually.

Click here to view the individual Legal Ethics MCLE quizzes.

Contact Internet For Lawyers at seminars@netforlawyers.com or 310/559-1632 to arrange an in-person training seminar for yourself, practice group, law firm or professional organization - or view our online calendar for upcoming scheduled live MCLE events.

The post Online Legal Ethics MCLE Quizzes for California Lawyers & Paralegals – Special Discount appeared first on Continuing Legal Education (MCLE) in California, MCLE Los Angeles, CLE Orange County, Irvine & San Francisco.