As they say, the rest is history. The paralegal program has become a regular part of the MCLE curriculum, with at least six programs offered each year. Topics cover a variety of specialty areas, may be interdisciplinary or of general interest, and cover the spectrum from entry level to advanced. All seminar panels consist of a combination of paralegals, attorneys or other specialists in the topic area, or may be entirely comprised of paralegals. To our knowledge, no panel has consisted solely of attorneys.
Moderators are frequently paralegals.
In addition, MCLE saw such great potential in the paralegal community that in 1997 it published a manual for paralegal practice in Massachusetts. This manual, which may have been the first ever published and will be updated as needed, boasts being edited by a past MPA president and primarily authored by paralegals. MCLE is so excited with the relationship developed that it volunteered to host a paralegal conference this past June. This is something that has never before been done in Massachusetts, so it is quite exciting that MCLE would take the risk. Robin Solomon was the keynote speaker in the morning.