LEGAL EDUCATION OFFICIALS FROM MONGOLIA VISIT CEB

Delegation meets with CEB attorneys as part of major effort to establish a continuing legal education system in Mongolia

OAKLAND, CA—A delegation of legal education officials from Mongolia visited Continuing Education of the Bar • California (CEB) recently to learn strategies for establishing a professional continuing legal education program (CLE) in their country.

Mongolia, formerly a Communist country, has moved toward democracy in recent years—adopting a new constitution, implementing new criminal and civil legal procedures, and working to reform its judicial system. The delegation to CEB included leaders of the National Legal Training Center (NLC), established by the Mongolian government in 1992 to provide training for judges and CLE for all branches of the profession.

In a daylong meeting with CEB attorneys and administrators on August 7th, NLC leaders learned about CEB's CLE program production methods and how they might be adapted for use in Mongolia. The delegation included Dr. Jugnee Amarsanaa, NLC Director and former Mongolian Minister of Justice; Dr. Tumenjargal Mendsaikhan, NLC Training Manager; Mary Frances Edwards, Mongolia Judicial Reform Program Training Specialist; and Erdene-Ochir Erdenechimeg, an interpreter and paralegal with Wagenlander & Heisterkamp, LLC, a Denver-based law firm providing services to Mongolia.

Participants from CEB included Suzanne Good, Program Department Manager; Peter Crook, Consultant and former Associate Professor of Law at the University of Malaya; and Program Attorneys Holly Kraemer and John Hentschel.

The visit to CEB was part of a U.S. tour organized by the Mongolia Judicial Reform Program of the National Center for State Courts, International Division, based in Williamsburg, Virginia. The Mongolian officials also attended the annual meeting of the Association of Continuing Legal Education (ACLEA) and visited the Pacific Legal Institute and California Center for Judicial Education and Research.

"We thought attending the ACLEA meeting and seeing and hearing directly from established, successful CLE providers would be very helpful to [Drs. Amarsanaa and Mendsaikhan]," said Edwards of the Mongolia Judicial Reform Program. "I think they were most surprised by the amount of time lawyers donate to teaching CLE."

"We are honored Drs. Amarsanaa and Mendsaikhan chose to meet with CEB on their United States visit," Hentschel said. "I believe that they left with a solid grasp of the challenges they face in setting up a CLE structure in their country, and I look forward to working with them in the future in helping them achieve their goals."

CEB, a statewide continuing legal education provider and publisher founded in 1947, is part of the University of California and is cosponsored by the State Bar of California. For more information about CEB's products, programs, and services, visit ceb.com or call 1-800-232-3444.

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Mongolian legal educators at CEB: Back row, from left, Peter Crook, John Hentschel, Suzanne Good; front row, Mary Frances Edwards, Erdene-Ochir Erdenechimeg, Dr. Jugnee Amarsanaa, Holly Kraemer, and Dr. Tumenjargal Mendsaikhan