A year has passed since the Pennsylvania Bar Association issued its report and recommendation to the Pennsylvania Supreme Court requesting consideration of a proposed rule change to allow for limited continuing legal education (CLE) and continuing judicial education (CJE) credits for participation in the mock trial program run by the young lawyers’ division of the Pennsylvania Bar Association. The hope of some affiliated with the mock trial competition was that the Supreme Court would act promptly on an easy decision with respect to the PBA’s recommendation and that the court would allow for the requested change to the CLE and CJE rules to allow for such credits.

Unfortunately, 12 months have now passed and another mock trial competition has already begun in the state. Yet, the judicially active Supreme Court has been uncharacteristically judicially inactive with its hands apparently tied by red tape such that the court seems powerless to simply say yes and approve the proposed rule change that seems to be a no-brainer on all fronts. As a result, high school students and college students who have worked hard on the mock trial problem all around the commonwealth of Pennsylvania face another year of nearly empty jury boxes for almost all of their competitions.