Articles

• Social Networking
• Interview Tips
• Position Yourself
• Ten Things Before You Apply

Typical Day Series

• Law School Librarian
• College Professor
• Head Start Teacher
• First Grade Teacher
• Bank Employee
• General Contractor
• Grade School Principal
• Court Reporter
• Grief Counselor
• Kindergarten Teacher
• Direct Support Professional
• Salesman
• Building Inspector
• Dispensing Optician
• Medical Biller
• Tutor
• Merchandiser
• Theatre Teacher
• Waiter
• Paralegal
• Real Estate Agent
• Teacher
• CLE Administrator
• Third Grade Teacher
• Sales Interview Tips
• Pepsi Jobs: Truck Driving
• Software Solution Architect
• Recovery Room Aide
 

Administrator Jobs

Inside the Work Day

Careerleak's Typical Day Series goes behind the scenes in everyday careers, with articles written by the employee themselves. Find out what they are excited about, what issues they confront and more. CareerLeak is Career Information.

A Typical Day as a CLE Administrator

Continuing legal education is one of the little known aspects of being a lawyer. In some jurisdictions attorneys are required to attain a certain amount of credits per year; some earn their credits every two years, and some every three years. Most jurisdictions have a yearly deadline, but New York attorneys re-register on their birthday every other year. So you have the potential in New York for every day to be a deadline for someone.

So let's take a typical Monday. While I don't dread Mondays, I've also learned never to schedule myself for anything on Monday. I definitely won't be doing what I thought I wanted to do that day. Many attorneys use the weekends, when client demands are somewhat diminished, to catch up on administrative tasks, this includes getting their CLE credits, which they can get in a number of ways.

They can go to live programs, they can attend live web casts or they can take on-demand programs through a number of providers. So on Monday morning, the phone is always ringing with requests such as, "I took this program but something went wrong and I didn't get my certificate, can you help me get it."

The other variation is the person who spent the weekend taking 10 classes. They forward me information to input into a database that will help them track their compliance. Some of these people need a report with the new information back immediately because they need to re-register that day.

Other calls for assistance include requests for clarification of continuing legal education rules, some of which I can answer off the top of my head, some I need to research and still others need clarification from the appropriate authority.

At time I do need to contact the appropriate authority, usually by e-mail, get a response and get it back to the attorney as quickly as possible. Mondays in June, October and January can be especially stressful because major jurisdictions have all their attorneys re-registering in those months. On June 30, the reporting period of three different states ends, which causes a flutter of activity as attorneys spend the weekend trying to figure out how many credits they have, how many they need, and what the best way is to comply.

Voila it's Monday all over again! In some ways every Monday is the same, and each one is different. I may complain about it to anyone who will listen, but I love the challenge and the fact that no two days are like. Plus, when I walk out the door Monday is done! I come in on Tuesday and look at it as a brand new day.

It may help that this is my “second career”. That is, I spent 21 years with the same firm as a legal editor. When I finally burned out on that job, this one was available and I jumped in with both feet. There are many more aspects of the job than can be explained here, but I have to say it is highly rewarding and, at times, entertaining.