Beginning with the reporting period ending June 30, 2019, attorneys in Illinois have new professional responsibility CLE requirements. On April 3, 2017, the Illinois Supreme Court announced changes to the mandatory professional responsibility CLE for Illinois attorneys. While the total number of professional responsibility CLE credits remains unchanged (that being six hours), the requirements constituting those six hours have been modified. Specifically, based on a recommendation from the Illinois Supreme Court Commission on Professionalism, the Illinois Supreme Court has amended Supreme Court Rule 794(d) to require that, as part of their 6-hours of professional responsibility, lawyers must complete one hour in diversity and inclusion and one hour in mental health and substance abuse.

Although the Illinois Rules of Professional Responsibility previously allowed attorneys to meet their 6-hours of professional responsibility CLE through courses including diversity issues and mental illness and addiction issues, few attorneys actually opted to take courses in these subject matters. In fact, while courses offered in the area of professional responsibility have been steadily increasing over the past decade, the number of courses addressing diversity and mental health issues has remained relatively stagnant. This is especially disconcerting given our profession’s well-documented problems in both of those areas.

While statistics prove that our population is becoming increasingly diverse, such statistics do not correlate well with the composition of our profession. As I am sure you will learn when you take a course offering in diversity, creating a diverse workplace increases productivity and creativity. When you gather a group of diverse individuals, you expose yourself to different outlooks and perspectives and untapped opportunities. Our profession should set an example and make it a priority to diversity itself.

As research has continuously shown, lawyers suffer from alcoholism, depression and anxiety at an alarming rate, more so than comparable high-stress professions. While there are many programs and services available to attorneys to help combat these issues, there is still a stigma attached with issues involving mental health. The existence of such a stigma may hinder an attorney’s desire to seek services to assist him or her in confronting mental health problems.

The Court believes that requiring courses in these underrepresented areas will encourage lawyers to seriously reflect on ways in which our profession can address diversity and mental health related issues. While Illinois is one of the few states that now requires diversity and mental health courses as part of its professional responsibility CLE, I suspect more states will soon be following. Earlier this year, the American Bar Association House of Delegates adopted a revised Minimum Continuing Legal Education Model Rule, which requires lawyers to earn credit hours in ethics and professionalism programming, mental health and substance use disorders programming, and diversity and inclusion programming.

To assist attorneys in fulfilling their MCLE requirements, the Lawyers’ Assistance Program offers several 1 to 1-½ credit hours online, mental health CLE programs at no cost. <http://illinoislap.wpengine.com/online-cle-2/>. In addition, the Illinois Attorney Registration & Disciplinary Commission is offering a free online course entitled “Diversity and Inclusions: A Blueprint for 2017 and Beyond.” <http://iardc.fastcle.com/store/provider/provider09.php>. I believe the Illinois Supreme Court Commission on Professionalism will also be offering a one-hour diversity and inclusion online course in the near future. <https://www.2civility.org/>.

As an alternative to the mental health and diversity credits described above, an attorney can satisfy the six hours of professional responsibility CLE credits by completing the Rule 795(d)(11) yearlong Lawyer-to-Lawyer Mentoring Program.

The new requirements became effective July 1, 2017, and are implemented beginning with the 2-year reporting period ending June 30, 2019. We should all work together to improve our profession by increasing its diversity and supporting those with mental health needs. 