You Can't Teach Character in a 2-Hour Ethics CLE

One of the themes of Oak Brook College of Law is the importance of character in our students. Character is something that OBCL emphasizes from the time the initial application for admission is reviewed all the way through the graduation ceremony. It is part of the fabric of life at OBCL.

Character is pretty important in the legal profession. Recently, in the Bankruptcy Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania, an attorney for a residential mortgage lender lied to the Court on several issues. They may have seemed like small, distracting issues to the attorney, but the court was pretty upset. The name of the case is In re Hill, Case No. 01-22574. The court considered what punishment to give the attorney. One common punishment for ethical violations is mandatory continuing legal education on ethics. But the court decided not to do that, reasoning as follows:

The Court also rules out any requirement for mandatory CLE or ethical training. As indicated at the hearing, the essence of the Rule is a lack of honesty. The Court does not believe it is necessary to undertake training in order to know that dishonesty is wrong despite the potential consequences of telling the truth. Honesty and truthfulness are matters of character that cannot be taught, if at all, in a few hours of CLE training.

Character is something that is engrained over a lifetime of making right choices, not something that you learn in summer school or in a 2-hour Ethics CLE. OBCL understands that and looks for applicants who are already in the process of engraining that character in their lives. Once in law school, OBCL does everything it can to promote the growth in character in the lives of its students.

Calling all West Coast Oak Brookies!

A number of OBCL grads have benefited from the CLE, fellowship, and networking opportunities afforded by the annual Federalist Society convention held every November in Washington, D.C.

And then there are the rest of us, who only wish we could be there.

Well -- for the West Coast crowd, at least -- here's another opportunity to enjoy some stimulating discussion, good food, lovely scenery, and affordable CLE (especially timely for those of us in the N-Z MCLE group!) from the Federalist Society at the 2011 Western Conference. Students are welcome, too, and benefit from FREE registration.

Come out to the Reagan Presidential Library on Saturday, January 29th for the 2011 Western Conference of the Federalist Society. Click here to register (students should register, too; space is limited). This year's topic is "After the 2010 Election: What's Next for Campaigns and California?"

Here are a couple pictures of last year's OBCL contingent. Picture yourself here!