State Bar’s Board looks at CLE cost bump

While attorneys could pay $35 more per year to remain members of the State Bar of Wisconsin starting in Fiscal Year 2014, the price of continuing legal education through the bar may increase much sooner.

Organization leaders are considering a 10-percent increase in the cost of CLE seminars sponsored through the bar’s PINNACLE program. The cost bump could occur in Fiscal Year 2013 to offset a $200,000 budget deficit and stabilize future revenue.

“One of the ways to deal with that shortfall is looking at raising prices,” Finance Committee Chair Margaret Hickey said Friday at the Board of Governors meeting. “We recognize that this is an exceedingly competitive environment with something like 900 providers in the state.”

The increase in base tuition would amount to a $20 increase per seminar and generate $125,000 to $135,000 in additional revenue, according to budget data provided by the bar.

The bar has held the price of CLE seminars steady for nearly 10 years, with the last increase coming in 2003 when the cost of day-long programs jumped from $179 to $199.

The bar is scheduled to vote on the increase at its June 13 meeting as part of the Fiscal Year 2013 budget. The Bar’s fiscal year begins June 30.