The New Mexico State Bar Foundation (Bar Foundation) is a 501(c)(3) non-profit corporation established in 1991 to accomplish many of the goals of the State Bar in public service and public education. The Bar Foundation has an interlocking board with the State Bar of New Mexico. Each board however, elects different officers. The Board of the Bar Foundation is comprised of twenty-one attorneys from throughout the state who are elected by the State Bar membership, and the chair of the Paralegal Division.
CLE is operated independently through the New Mexico State Bar Foundation as an entrepreneurial entity to successfully compete in the CLE marketplace. The Center for Legal Education (CLE) is a self-supporting entity that provides live programming for the various sections, committees and divisions of the State Bar of New Mexico, as well as speciality/voluntary and local bar associations. CLE receives no subsidy from State Bar membership dues. CLE pays for all services and support that it receives from the State Bar including accounting, printing and mailing, reception and facility costs. CLE currently offers an expanding variety of beginner, intermediate and advanced level courses based upon input received from State Bar members. CLE courses fulfill the New Mexico Supreme Court’s minimum requirements of 10.0 general, 1.0 ethics and 1.0 professionalism CLE credit.
The Bar Foundation, through its Public and Legal Service Department, has among its purposes: