News

Redesigned Site Enhances Services for Pennsylvania Lawyers

December 02, 2008

HARRISBURG, Dec. 3, 2008 — The Pennsylvania Continuing Legal Education Board has redesigned its Web site and expanded online services for lawyers. The new www.pacle.org allows visitors to navigate more intuitively throughout the site and offers several online features to help lawyers meet their CLE requirements. “The new design is really the result of applying new concepts that draw on updated technology,” CLE Board Chair Robert C. Heim said. “Over the years, the CLE Board has remained committed to employing innovative technology in combination with traditional learning opportunities to enhance service to Pennsylvania’s lawyers. The new Web site is successful in creating a perfect blend of those objectives.” Highlights of the redesign include a customizable search page for upcoming approved CLE programs, expansions to the online transcript feature called “MyPACLE,” and an e-commerce feature that allows lawyers to pay fees online. The CLE Board always has assumed a responsibility for helping lawyers locate approved programs to meet their requirement. The new Web site enhances this ability through a customizable search feature that locates upcoming CLE courses. In addition to standard search options that allow lawyers to search for programs based on date and location, the new service allows courses to be filtered by specific areas of interest and practice. As an example, the previous version of the Web site allowed lawyers to locate courses containing “Ethics” components. The new site is designed to more specifically identify subcategories of ethics such as: Professionalism, Conflicts of Interest, Diversity Training, Substance Abuse, and more. The CLE Board believes that helping lawyers find training in more specialized areas will be a considerable benefit to individual attorneys, their practice and ultimately their clients. The most popular section of the Web site also has undergone changes. The “MyPACLE” feature exists to help lawyers track their CLE transcript online and monitor compliance with the annual requirement. In addition to a more straightforward display, the changes to MyPACLE also include options for lawyers to pay fees online through secure credit card transactions. Credit card processing is being made available on MyPACLE through an online payment processing provider. Processing payments in this manner assures the highest levels of security, data encryption and compliance with ecommerce standards. “This is a major achievement in terms of both lawyer service and in operational efficiency,” Heim said. “From the ability to identify highly specialized training to the ecommerce features, the changes made to the Web site are remarkable, but also logical steps in today’s world. All of these new features should allow PA CLE to provide better regulation through online communication and service.” Additional Web features and paperless options are planned to be phased in over the next several months. The site continues to offer access to information on CLE in Pennsylvania including the rules and regulations, a list of accredited providers, distance learning programming, paperless processing and more. The CLE Board is responsible for administering the rules pertaining to continuing education for attorneys. To meet this responsibility, the board has established goals to utilize automation and maximize services to lawyers. For more information and to view the redesign, please visit www.pacle.org.