I had some online CPE courses to do the other day. As a lawyer, it’s mandatory that we take continuing professional education. Online CPE courses are great, because I normally get do attend on my own schedule. There are some classes which are available live only, almost the same as a normal course taken at a college except conducted over the internet, taking advantage of that medium’s exponentially greater reach but little else.

But these are quite the exception, and generally only available this way because of copyright concerns. I generally avoid these kinds of continuing professional education courses unless the lecturer happens to be some hot-shot lawyer or the material is especially interesting to me.

To me, the primary benefit of online CPE courses is how it is possible to go at one’s personal pace. And as a third-year associate at one of the largest corporate law firms in the world, believe me when I say how much I appreciate that convenience! I work sixty to seventy-hour weeks, including weekends of course, and that’s not even considering all the years of studying I’ve already gone through: by now I have twenty-some-odd years of schooling – considerably a lot more than two whole thirds of my life!

So anything at all that lets me take it easy a little is most desired, and being able to pursue continuing professional education over the worldwide web makes a bad situation a little better.

I mean, I actually don’t want to do it – but it’s a requirement for periodic relicensing as an attorney, and i am not ready to quit the profession just yet, if ever – so being able to at least take my time with it takes some of the onerousness out of it all. Plus, sometimes it’s free if it is a pilot course, an experimental course for which I receive free CPE credits in exchange for offering some feedback, making things even less onerous!