CLE.

Every three years, I find myself engaged in frenetic activity brought on by the dreaded CLER reporting deadline. This week I signed up for two courses--one "live" and one on DVD--and am still suffering from sticker shock. The former was priced at $410, the latter a mere $302.

Obviously, many in the Bar hierarchy do not share President Eugene Pettis' gloomy picture of the state of our profession, but instead think that the practice of law is still the land of milk and honey. Otherwise, how can they justify compelling the members to spend upwards of $1,000 (what I will have paid to achieve my current 30-hour cycle) to listen to colleagues who provide their lectures pro bono?

Over the years, CLE has taken on a life of its own. I guess I really should be congratulating the leadership for its cleverness in the development and maintenance of this great profit center. Who says lawyers are lousy business people?

Phil Shailer

Ft. Lauderdale

(Terry Hill, director of the Bar's Programs Division...