Crows, Cool Mornings, and a Rainy Afternoon: Prime Oklahoma CLE Weather

Mark Houts Author

The heat broke, the rain moved in, and the crows have opinions. The yard can wait. Turn a few wet fall afternoons into a finished CLE year.

In early October, Oklahoma finally lets go of summer. The mornings get cool enough for a jacket, the air smells like wet leaves, and the crows hold court in the pecan trees — loud, opinionated, and finishing an argument that started in August. The clouds roll in, the rain settles on the roof, and an afternoon of scheduled yard work quietly becomes an afternoon indoors.

That afternoon is CLE weather.

The yard can wait. December won't.

Every Oklahoma lawyer needs 12 hours of CLE, including 2 hours of ethics, by December 31. We're under three months out now, and the back half of December has a way of filling up with year-end closings, holiday travel, and the clients who just remembered they needed something before the new year. The lawyers who finish comfortably are the ones who used October and November — not the ones racing the clock on December 30.

A gray, rainy fall afternoon is about the most productive excuse you'll get all year. Nobody expects you outside. The phone is quieter. And you already wanted to sit by the window with something warm.

Twelve rainy afternoons (or fewer)

Oklahoma counts 50 minutes of instruction as one credit hour, so a one-hour course is less than an hour of your afternoon. Every OkieCLE course is pre-recorded and on demand — start it when the rain starts, pause it when the dog needs out, and pick it back up tomorrow.

Here's the whole plan:

• One course per rainy day. Oklahoma gets enough fall rain that twelve wet afternoons between now and December isn't much of a stretch — and nothing says you can't do two when it really sets in.
• Ethics first. Knock out your 2 ethics hours on the first couple of gray days, so the one category you can't make up with general hours is already done.
• Coffee, a window, and headphones. That's the whole setup. No parking garage, no hotel ballroom, no driving to Oklahoma City or Tulsa on wet roads.

What to watch while it rains

A few from the catalog that pair well with a long, wet afternoon:

• AI Ethics and Basics — ethics credit, and the topic every client is asking about.
• Conflicts of Interest and Disqualification — ethics credit you'll actually use on Monday.
• Indirect Contempt of Court
• The Relentless Pursuit of Collections
• Governmental Tort Claims Act
• Tort or Contract?

Let the crows do the talking

There's something about a cool, rainy day that makes focused work feel easy. The world slows down a notch, the crows keep up their commentary from the tree line, and by the time the rain lets up you've got another hour logged and one less thing hanging over December. Take the rain when it comes. It won't last, and neither will the calendar.

Ready to finish your year? Browse our Oklahoma CLE courses.