Marino Legal CLE

Marino Legal CLE is the continuing legal education side of the Marino Institute for Continuing Legal Education (MICLE), a New York provider that sells live lectures and on-demand video courses to attorneys who must meet their state's CLE rules. It serves two groups the site names directly: newly admitted attorneys who still owe live credits, and veteran attorneys who can finish their requirements online. Its contact block gives an office on East 84th Street in New York, and its About text says the company "virtually created the concept of modern bar review", a reference to the Marino Bar Review and Marino Bar Tutors programs linked from the same site. The CLE offer is built most closely around New York and New Jersey, with online bundles also offered to attorneys in Pennsylvania, California and other states.

Live credits for newly admitted attorneys

The live product is Bridge the Gap. According to the home page, these events let newly admitted attorneys in New York and New Jersey "complete all annual continuing education requirements in one live day plus 7 credits of on-demand video lectures." The schedule is frequent: one section of the home page says the events are offered every month, another says every three weeks, and the How This Works list says the Bridge the Gap Weekends run at least once a month. For New York attorneys who need 32 live credits over two years, the site explains that two weekends or any four weekend days will do, in any combination. The home page also advertises a limited-time extra: a free online CLE bundle added to a live Bridge the Gap event, so that all required annual credits are covered.

A testimonial from Josh G. of New Jersey shows who this is for: "I work over 60 hours a week. Without your weekend Bridge the Gap lectures, I would never have been able to fulfill my CLE credits." Another, from Brian H. of New York, calls the Bridge the Gap lectures "the most well done CLE lectures I have ever attended" and singles out the friendliness of the staff.

The online CLE catalog

For experienced attorneys, the Online CLE Programs section is the main product. The page claims "almost 200 online/on-demand courses", and the category listing itself shows 133 results, 16 to a page. Topics named in the introduction include effective litigation, fast-changing marriage and family laws, credit litigation, elder law, jury selection, closing arguments and a course on why blogging helps build a legal practice.

The first page of the listing gives a feel for the range. Cybersecurity: What Attorneys Need to Know, taught by attorney Max Shoengold and IT expert Matthew Nadelson, is described as satisfying New York's cybersecurity CLE credit. Nicole Croddick's Sexual Harassment Training for Lawyers counts for Diversity, Inclusion and Elimination of Bias credit. Jared Scotto covers preparing for and cross-examining medical expert witnesses, Marino Fernandez teaches Spanish for Attorneys to lawyers who assist Spanish-speaking clients, and Andy Eibel takes on witness preparation and direct examination. Further courses cover student loans and bankruptcy (Michelle Labayen), the essentials of employment law (Jennie Woltz), formation and compliance for private healthcare practices (Sara Shikhman), large-scale federal criminal investigations and bail hearings (Ed Sapone and Susan Kellman), real estate practice and its ethical pitfalls (Jing An), Immigration Law 101 (Holly Pai), employment litigation at the individual, class and collective levels (Alex Hartzband), estate planning (Lillie Nkenchor), federal post-conviction motions and appeals (Michael Bachrach and Andrew Frisch) and the attorney disciplinary process (Si Aydiner). Each entry names its faculty, its credit value (1, 1.5 or 2 credits on that page) and its price.

The site frames the curriculum as more than box-ticking. It says it was developed "to not only fulfill your CLE requirements, but also provide the information you need to thrive as an attorney in today's demanding legal environment."

How an online course works

The process is spelled out on the home page. After buying a course, the attorney logs into an account where all the course materials sit, and can watch the video lecture as many times as they like. A code flashes across the screen once every hour. After the lecture the attorney fills out a brief questionnaire and enters the code or codes to receive a certificate verifying that the course was taken. The site adds that its staff is available to help with any further questions. It is a video-plus-verification model, which fits the job most attorneys bring to it: proving attendance for a state bar.

The menu also carries a CLE Requirements guide and a CLE Rules by State section with pages for dozens of states, from Arizona and California through New York, Texas and Wyoming, along with FAQs and a Get Help page. That makes the site a useful reference before buying, especially for an attorney admitted in more than one state.

Prices, bundles and group rates

Most courses on the first page of the online listing are priced at $50 each; two (a course on real estate closings during COVID-19, and The Disciplinary Process) are shown at $0. Bundling works through coupon codes at checkout. The online programs page lists four tiers: buy 3 courses and get 20% off with code bundle20, buy 4 for 30% off with bundle30, buy 6 for 50% off with bundle50, and buy 12 for 67% off with bundle67. Alongside the coupons sits the 24-credit New York CLE online package, which the home page describes as a collection of the most popular courses for experienced attorneys completing their biannual requirements.

The home page also promises a Price Match Guarantee: "we will match any advertised offer on our CLE lectures and online CLE programs", arranged by calling or emailing the office. The site explains the policy by saying it aims "to offer the highest possible quality CLE content at the lowest possible cost to you" and that "we put people over profit."

Law firms get their own page. Marino says it can design affordable packages and give special group rates to firms buying for multiple employees, or to groups of individual attorneys who want to buy live lectures or online courses together. Buying is per course, per coupon bundle or per package; the site publishes no subscription or membership plan. A Refund Policy and a Financial Hardship Policy are linked from every page.

Track record and claims

In its Why Choose Marino section the company calls itself "the innovative leader in our field" and gives three reasons: it has been offering CLE courses for decades and keeps adding courses, faculty and venues; its Bridge the Gap Weekends are, in its words, "the most flexible and comprehensive option" for new attorneys with live-credit requirements; and its live lectures and online courses have stayed affordable while college, post-grad and law school tuition keeps rising. One long-time customer, Jeremy P. of New York, writes: "I've been using Marino to satisfy my continuing legal education requirement for over twenty years."

Who it suits

Marino Legal CLE fits newly admitted New York and New Jersey attorneys who need live credits and want to clear them in one day or a weekend rather than spread across the year. It also suits veteran attorneys who prefer to buy short video courses by topic and stack the coupon discounts, and small firms that want one group price for several lawyers. The catalog leans toward litigation, criminal defense, employment, real estate and practice topics, which matches a general practice or small-firm lawyer well.

The caveat is scope. The model is simple: video lectures, a code check and a certificate, sold course by course or in bundles, and the live program is built around New York and New Jersey rules. Attorneys admitted elsewhere can still use the online catalog, with the site's state-by-state rules pages as the place to start.