The Pennsylvania Bar Institute and LegalSpan partner to provide timely law updates, live web casts and online CLE for Pennsylvania Attorneys.

onlineCLE.PBI.org
The Pennsylvania Online CLE Pilot program starts on January 1, 2003 and will run through January 1, 2005.  In order to develop an identity for the online CLE program, PBI has created the onlineCLE.PBI.org sub-domain.  This new domain also provides a direct route into the catalog for PBI users thereby increasing accessibility.  PBI plans to have more than 60 hours of online CLE programming up and running by the start date of January, 2003.  PBI programs will feature synchronized PowerPoint slides, an online forum where users can ask and respond to questions, and media streams in both Real and Windows media format.  

LegalSpan's seminar forum functionality, along with our popup dialog functionality (which forces the user to interact with the program every 10 minutes in order to continue viewing), will provide the interactivity necessary to insure accreditation from the Pennsylvania MCLE authority.  

Timely Law Updates
PBI's new online campus provides many new opportunities for Pennsylvania lawyers not the least of which is the ability for PBI to provide timely new law updates.  These "updates" would be provided through the PBI online campus within a week or two of new legislation passing in each major area of law.  

In order for these courses to be produced in a timely fashion,  instructional materials will consist of PowerPoint outlines of the issues discussed, with hyperlinks to the actual cases, statutes, etc. The PowerPoint will be printable by the participants, for note-taking and future reference, and will also be synchronized to run with the audio/video stream. 

"We are excited about the Internet enabling us to bring lawyers up to date in a much speedier fashion than is possible in the 'real' world. By offering information that is timely and relevant to a Pennsylvania lawyer's practice we believe we will actually increase our educational distribution beyond simply providing CLE credits to attorney's at the last minute. This categorically different educational offering may allow us to sell seminars and information to attorney who have actually fulfilled their MCLE requirement and simply want to learn about a new and relevant piece of legislation." 

Susan Swope - Pennsylvania Bar Institute

Live PBI Web Broadcasts
LegalSpan will be receiving, live webcasting, and recording for the PBI Online Campus, selected PBI's satellite programs.  PBI broadcasts 8 to 12 live satellite events per year.  The ability to web cast these seminars will make it easier for viewers i to attend and will open up PBI seminars to lawyers around the country.  

Invitation to Other CLE Providers in Pennsylvania
PBI has also proposed a revolutionary idea to other CLE providers in Pennsylvania.  In essence, the concept is that PBI will assist other Pennsylvania CLE providers in establishing an online presence by providing a category on the PBI web site where these provider's online programs will be housed.  In addition to providing the possibility for statewide distribution, PBI will assist these providers in managing their content and in getting their content ready for the LegalSpan production process.  In return for the inclusion of their content, these providers will be paid a percentage of the revenue their programs generate.    

 Providing online CLE for more than 15 state bar associations, LegalSpan is the nation's leading Legal Internet broadcasting company.  LegalSpan provides a seamless and fully integrated online CLE catalog that enables associations in the legal, accounting and banking professions to provide the highest quality educational content on the Internet.  

LegalSpan Affiliates: