By order entered on January 26, 2017, the Supreme Court merged the two agencies that provide administrative support for the Indiana Board of Law Examiners (BLE) and the Indiana Commission on Continuing Legal Education (CLE) into a new Office of Admissions and Continuing Education (OACE).
The order provides that the OACE will operate under the direction of an executive director “who shall supervise a staff created by the merging of the current staffs of the BLE and CLE.” The BLE and Commission on CLE will retain their separate Board members and Commissioners. The newly combined OACE staff consists of the eleven former employees of the Commission on CLE and BLE.
Julia Orzeske, the longtime executive director of the Commission on CLE, retired in March 2016 after a distinguished career. As part of a pilot project, BLE executive director, Bradley Skolnik, assumed the position of CLE interim executive director. The Supreme Court then appointed him to serve as the OACE’s first executive director. Mr. Skolnik is an experienced administrator who has served as the BLE’s executive director since July 2011, and previously served an eight-year stint as the state’s Securities Commissioner in the Office of the Indiana Secretary of State.
In 1931, the Indiana Supreme Court established the Board of Law Examiners to ensure that all applicants meet the requirements for admission to the bar and to conduct a bar examination. Today, the BLE consists of ten attorneys from across the state appointed by the Court.
It is responsible for certifying that all individuals admitted to practice law in Indiana have fulfilled the requirements for admission as specified in the Supreme Court’s Admission and Discipline Rules.
In addition to its admission duties, the BLE certifies legal interns and approves the formation, for the purposes of practicing law, of professional corporations, limited liability companies, and limited liability partnerships.
On January 1, 1987, Indiana became the eighteenth state to require mandatory continuing legal education for attorneys. The Court established the Commission on Continuing Legal Education to administer the continuing legal education rules. The CLE has eleven members and an ex-officio member representing the Alternative Dispute Resolution Committee. It also oversees the registration and training of mediators and the accreditation of lawyer specialization programs.
Please stop by for an Open House on Thursday, March 2 from 2:30-4:30 p.m.
Office of Admissions and Continuing Education
30 South Meridian St., Ste 875
Indianapolis, IN 46204
(317) 232-2552