As the seventh Compliance Period for Mandatory Continuing Legal Education (MCLE) for members of the Integrated Bar of the Philippines closes in April 2023, new and exciting programs start to line up for the opening of the eighth period. Most compliant lawyers now enjoy more options as online, traditional, and hybrid learning setups comprise the interesting mix that prioritizes their convenience and personal choices.

Like law practitioners across the globe, learners in the country consider four major factors when choosing MCLE programs to enroll in—topic or content, cost, reputation of MCLE facilitators, and the learning setup.

Always ahead of the times and leading its industry, ACCESS MCLE, a duly recognized learning institution facilitating MCLE courses for local attorneys, has started opening new programs that learners can sign up for the Eighth Compliance Period.

Currently, there are nine available courses, with 16 more to be uploaded.

It is the proponent of online MCLE as it presented the setup for virtual learning for lawyers to the Supreme Court even before the onset of the pandemic.

ACCESS MCLE has even introduced a new version of the online class or synchronous setup. The Flexi-Synch option makes MCLE program schedule identical all year round. Learners who miss a session can catch that same lesson on the same day and time on the following month.

Topics and carefully-selected facilitators

“We aim to make fellow lawyers realize that MCLE is worthwhile and necessary,” said ACCESS MCLE Co-Founder Atty. Ma. Louella M. Aranas. “It has always been our commitment to set the standard higher.”

Since Day 1, ACCESS MCLE has been prioritizing the requirements, needs, and interests of Filipino lawyers. It is continuously working with numerous law experts and legal luminaries to identify and develop programs that would further enrich local attorneys amid significant changes in the judicial landscape.

So far, ACCESS MCLE has offered numerous MCLE courses in seven different categories—updates on substantive and procedural laws, MCLE prescribed subjects, legal and judicial ethics, alternative dispute resolution, legal writing and oral advocacy, trial and pre-trial skills, and international laws.

“ACCESS is committed to delivering new curated topics for the Eighth Compliance Period on top of the courses for the Seventh Compliance Period that remain to be available. Some of our current popular topics are the laws of war; hunger and the right to adequate food, and even the right to die,” Atty. Aranas said.

The institution is equally proud of its roster of lecturers, which include legal luminaries and some of the most credible subject matter experts. ACCESS MCLE has a deliberate selection process for inviting the best lecturers who are real authorities in their respective legal practices. “We take most of our recommendations for lecturers from Dean Ada Abad of Adamson University College of Law,” Atty. Aranas disclosed.

Costs and learning setups

Being the first accredited online on-demand and synchronous MCLE provider in the Philippines, ACCESS MCLE has been instrumental in democratizing continuing legal education for lawyers. It was among the proponents of online MCLE as it had started introducing the virtual learning setup for lawyers even before the onset of the pandemic and before the Supreme Court formally endorsed online MCLE as an option for those meeting compliance.

ACCESS MCLE has even introduced a new version of the online class or synchronous setup. The Flexi-Synch option makes MCLE programs available all year round. Learners who miss a session can catch that same lesson on the same day and time on the following month.

Aside from the reasonable fees per course, online sessions logically help lower compliance expenses by eliminating the need to spend on transportation. Thus, learners from all local regions don’t need to fly to the metro just to attend sessions.

“A huge factor that makes lawyers enroll in an MCLE seminar is the program schedule. It can be hard for a working professional to find time to attend a lecture that directly conflicts with their schedule. Moreover, the lineup of lecturers, topics to be discussed, and rate or pricing are other points that lawyers factor in when making the decision to enroll in a program,” Atty. Aranas summed up.

To learn more about ACCESS MCLE and its programs, visit https://accessonline.ph/.