The Connecticut Superior Court's rules committee on Monday advanced a plan that could allow attorneys to earn minimum continuing legal education credits by providing pro bono legal services, potentially placing the state among just three that allow lawyers to earn half their yearly requirements through volunteering.

During a public hearing and subsequent meeting in Hartford, the committee, chaired by Connecticut Supreme Court Justice Joan K. Alexander, increased over a previous plan the proposed ratio of hours worked to credits earned, agreeing that three hours of pro bono services should equal one MCLE.

An earlier version suggested a 2:1 ratio, but during the meeting, the committee questioned whether a different balance would better serve indigent populations.

Elizabeth Rowe, an assistant counsel at the statewide grievance committee who also provides legal support to the state's minimum continuing legal education commission, told the committee a ratio as high as some other states could discourage Connecticut lawyers from using the rule to earn credits.

"The proposal was designed to encourage new lawyers who do not currently do pro bono work to try and do some pro bono work," said Rowe, speaking during the public comment section of the hearing. "If it's five to one, that amount may be discouraging … we may not get a lot of new people."

Rowe is not a member of the committee; it is composed of nine Connecticut jurists.

An American Bar Association survey last updated in January said 20 other states allow lawyers to earn legal education credits through pro bono work.

According to the survey, Florida allows lawyers to earn one credit for every hour of volunteer service, a 1:1 ratio. However, several states employ ratios as high as 5:1 or 6:1.

Emily A. Gianquinto, special counsel at McCarter & English LLP and the incoming president of the Connecticut Bar Association, said the CBA was developing a pro bono credit proposal when the state judicial branch independently released its own plan.

"The CBA wholeheartedly supports this idea," she said. "We're very happy it's gone this far."

As drafted, the proposal added a new section to Practice Book Rule 2-27A allowing attorneys to earn MCLE credits "by providing uncompensated legal services for clients unable to afford counsel under the supervision of an organized legal aid society, state or local bar association project, or a court-affiliated pro bono program in Connecticut."

According to Gianquinto, although 22 states now allow volunteer attorneys to earn limited MCLE credits, Connecticut could join only two other states that currently allow attorneys to earn half or more of their yearly MCLE requirements through pro bono matters.

Other states cap pro bono-earned credits at lower thresholds, the ABA survey indicates. For instance, in New York, attorneys who provide 20 free hours of services can earn up to 10 credits spread across two years. The Empire State requires 24 total credits in a biennial span.

Connecticut requires attorneys to earn 12 credits every year, half of which could be gleaned through pro bono programs if the proposal is adopted.

The CBA also asked the committee to amend the proposed rule to delete the supervision verbiage.

"We don't supervise the attorneys at the CBA," Gianquinto explained. "We match them with providers; we match them with clients … no one is supervising the pro bono participants."

The CBA also suggested that the rule be expanded to account for free services provided through affinity bar associations, such as practice-specific organizations, not just official legal aid societies, court programs, or state or local bar associations.

Rowe told the committee that attorneys should be required to perform volunteer services while attached to an official provider.

"We wanted to be able to track the pro bono hours," she said. "If there's no supervision with the pro bono hours, we would be leaving it up to attorneys to – sort of – decide what they think is pro bono rather than something concrete and specific."

The committee agreed that the word "administered" would be better than the word "supervised" and advanced the CBA's proposed amendments.

The plan now advances to the state's superior court jurists for potential adoption at an annual meeting this June.

The MCLE plan is part of a series of Practice Book changes that otherwise passed through the rules committee without debate.

Among the others are the addition of a seven-page Principles of Professionalism section designed to "emphasize the obligation of lawyers to model respect and civility in their interactions with each other and with the public," according to its official commentary.

Also proposed are alterations to the state's deposition rules connected to Connecticut's adoption of the Interstate Depositions and Discovery Act.

--Editing by Patrick Reagan.