Local bar association works to keep lawyers up-to-date

Education is the major focus of the Springfield Metropolitan Bar Association, according to executive director Lois Zerrer. The association provides both continuing legal education for attorneys and information for the general public.

In Missouri, every attorney is required to have 15 hours of continuing legal education per year by rule of the Missouri Supreme Court, Zerrer said. The SMBA offers two types of programs, the first a four-hour program held eight to 10 times a year in the late afternoons or evenings and featuring guest speakers. The subjects "are generally on substantive law areas such as family law, probate, trial practice, or professionalism and ethics," Zerrer said. Most speakers are local attorneys and judges.

Luncheon meeting

The second type of program, also on substantive law issues, is an hour-long monthly luncheon meeting that provides further opportunities for continuing education credit. "It's basically our membership meeting," Zerrer said. Speakers have included the president of the Missouri Bar, Missouri Supreme Court judges, and a federal judge.

Zerrer emphasized that staying up-to-date is essential in the practice of law. She said that all Missouri attorneys are required to follow the Rules of Professional Conduct instituted by the Missouri Supreme Court. Attorneys who need an interpretation of these rules can seek guidance from the Office of Chief Disciplinary Counsel, an office established by the Supreme Court to oversee attorney discipline.

The Office of Chief Disciplinary Counsel has the authority to investigate attorney complaints and ethical issues, according to Zerrer. It is also the body responsible for investigating applicant character and fitness to practice law, when law graduates register to take the bar exam.

The office also can assist attorneys to help prevent problems before they start. In addition, a member of the office will speak at the annual professionalism and ethics seminar."

It's a proactive thing," Zerrer said. "Instead of waiting for something to happen, we try to educate people and keep them on the right track."

In order to better educate and inform its members and the general public, the SMBA has formed a technology committee. "We're trying to improve our presence on the Web," Zerrer said.

To that end, the bar association's Web site will have a section for members only, as well as a section accessible to the public. "One of our most important jobs is providing accurate legal information to the community. We want to make it easier for the public to get that information," she said.

Attorneys also have the opportunity to educate each other through the SMBA's mentoring program, run in concert with the Missouri Bar Association. Zerrer is the current chair of the Missouri Bar Mentoring Oversight Committee.

The mentoring program was started in southwest Missouri in 1998, Zerrer said, when about a dozen newer attorneys were matched up with more experienced practitioners.

"Everyone who participated thought it should be expanded," she said. The program was extended into the Kansas City area in 1999 and into St. Louis in 2000. "Now we're expanding it statewide."

According to Zerrer, the mentor sends in an information sheet describing his experience and area of interest, and the newer attorney, or protege, fills out a similar sheet. "If someone wants to go from a law firm to solo practice, they could be matched up with someone who has made this transition and could give them advice." In addition, a person who wants to get into an unfamiliar area of law will be matched with a mentor who has experience in that area.

Mentors and proteges are paired up for a year at a time and encouraged to get together on a regular basis, in person and by phone, Zerrer said. "It's somebody you can pick up the phone and call to get an answer to a question."

Zerrer said, "When life wasn't so complicated, this used to be done more on an informal basis. When somebody new came into town, the existing attorneys would show them the ropes."

She added that now, the practice of law is much more complicated. "There are so many attorneys, and they are more likely to limit their practice to certain areas."