Richard E. Carter, a pioneer in the field of continuing education for lawyers, died at his home in Philadelphia on January 27 at the age of 78.
Mr. Carter served from 1993 to 2005 as the Executive Director of the American Law Institute-American Bar Association Committee on Continuing Professional Education (ALI-ABA, now known as ALI CLE), a major national provider of continuing legal education. He led ALI-ABA during a time of expansion, when the number of its courses and other offerings increased significantly, and major changes in technology and the method of delivery of continuing legal education were taking place.
Mr. Carter had a prominent career in legal education for more than 40 years. In the 1970s, he directed the Legal Services Corporation’s Office of Program Support, providing training for lawyers representing poor clients across the country. Later, he led the Attorney General’s Advocacy Institute, which trained lawyers in the U.S. Department of Justice. When that Institute was combined with the Legal Education Institute to form the Office of Legal Education, which became responsible for the continuing education of lawyers and paralegals in all federal agencies, Mr. Carter was its first director. He then served from 1985 to 1993 as Director of the Division for Professional Education of the American Bar Association.
A native of Indianapolis, Mr. Carter was a graduate of Butler University and Indiana University’s Maurer School of Law. He attended the Université Internationale des Sciences Comparées for law in Luxembourg before returning to the IU Law School to teach for two years as a Krannert Fellow. In 1963 he moved to Washington, DC, where he worked for the Federal Trade Commission and Neighborhood Legal Services before joining the law faculty of Catholic University. There he established a clinical legal-education program serving Washington’s inner city and later started a national program to provide continuing legal education for 3,000 legal service attorneys. He helped to organize the new Legal Services Corporation in 1975.
Mr. Carter was a life member of The American Law Institute and the Fellows of the American Bar Foundation. In 1997, he was elected to the Academy of Law Alumni Fellows at the Indiana University School of Law. After his retirement from ALI-ABA, he became active in the International Bar Association, chairing the Legal Education Committee and becoming a member of the Council of the Section on General Practice. He was also an elected shareholder of the Library Company of Philadelphia and a member of the Athenaeum of Philadelphia.
Mr. Carter is survived by his wife of 47 years, Constance Crowder Carter, by his brother David, and by a niece and two nephews.
A memorial service will be held from 4 to 6 p.m. on Friday, May 16, at the Athenaeum, 219 S. 6th St., Philadelphia. Contributions may be sent to the United Way of Philadelphia.