PLI's Credit Information: Recent Rule Changes

New Jersey: The New Jersey Supreme Court Board on Continuing Legal Education published Amendments to the Regulations of the Board on Continuing Legal Education Approved by the Supreme Court (effective January 1, 2024). Highlights of the Amendments:

• Live instruction is further defined to include instruction through live classroom instruction and simultaneously broadcasting through an alternative verifiable learning format where the off-site attendees can interact with the instructor during the presentation of the course, and a defined period or format is allocated for questions, comments, or group discussion.
• Three additional New Jersey new admit subject areas: New Jersey administrative law, New Jersey labor and employment law, and New Jersey worker's compensation law. 
• The New Jersey newly admitted requirement is increased to 16 total credits in a minimum of 6 New Jersey new admit law subjects (within the general 24 credit CLE requirement). 
• All New Jersey newly admitted attorneys must take at least 1 credit in New Jersey attorney trust and business accounting fundamentals. General courses in trusts, estates, business law, and accounting not related to a New Jersey attorney's ethical obligations regarding attorney trust and business accounts do not meet the requirement of this newly admitted attorney subject area. Newly admitted attorneys with a plenary license who must report compliance with the New Jersey newly admitted attorney requirement in any reporting period occurring after the 2024 compliance reporting period are required to obtain at least one credit in New Jersey attorney trust and business accounting fundamentals.
• The Order - Continuing Legal Education - Temporary Elimination of Live Classroom Instruction Requirement Because of COVID-19 Coronavirus Concerns expires on January 1, 2024, the effective date of the amendments. 

California: The State Bar of California is implementing changes to the MCLE course requirements effective October 1, 2023. Beginning with the compliance period ending January 31, 2025, licensees will be required to also complete and report compliance on the following new subfields:

• Technology in the Practice of Law credit (one hour required)
• One hour addressing technology in the practice of law, including education on technology tools, programs, or applications to assist attorneys in their law practice.
• Civility in the Legal Profession credit (one hour required)
• One hour addressing civility in the legal profession, including education that discusses the link between civility and bias, incivility that is directed at opposing parties or counsel, and incivility aimed at the judiciary.
• Competence credit (Increased from one credit to two)
• At least one hour focused on prevention and detection education that addresses substance use or other mental or physical issues that impair a licensee’s ability to perform legal services with competence (prevention and detection competence); and 
• An optional hour focused on wellness education, including physical and mental wellness and wellbeing or stress management, in the context of the practice of law and the impact these issues can have on an attorney’s ability to perform legal services with competence (wellness competence).

Florida: The Supreme Court of Florida amended Bar Rule 6-10.3(b) (Minimum Hourly Continuing Legal Education Requirements), effective January 8, 2024, to: 

• Reduce the overall CLE requirement from 33 to 30 hours per reporting cycle. 
• Require Bar members to complete a two-hour legal professionalism course produced by The Florida Bar and approved by this Court during each reporting cycle. This two-hour course, which the Bar will offer free of charge, replaces the existing one-hour professionalism program requirement.
• Remove “bias elimination” from the requirement that “[a]t least 5 of the 30 credit hours must be in approved legal ethics, professionalism, substance abuse, or mental health and wellness programs.” Courses in “bias elimination” that meet The Florida Bar’s general course approval requirements will continue to count toward fulfilling Bar members’ overall 30-hour CLE requirement, but such courses will no longer count toward fulfillment of the five-hour sub-requirement specified in the rule.

Further guidance from the Supreme Court of Florida: Any “bias elimination” courses taken prior to the effective date of the amendments to Bar Rule 6-10.3 will count toward a member’s fulfillment of the five-hour sub-requirement for the member’s applicable reporting cycle. For any member with less than three months remaining in their CLE reporting cycle on the effective date of the Bar Rule 6-10.3 amendments, the requirement to take the two-hour Bar-produced course on professionalism will not apply until the member’s subsequent reporting cycle.

Tennessee: The Tennessee Supreme Court has amended the Rule for Mandatory Continuing Legal Education to remove limitations on distance-learning continuing legal education (“CLE”) credits. The Order was filed and effective on November 1, 2022.

Ohio: The Supreme Court of Ohio adopted rule changes to permanently remove the CLE self-study caps for attorneys, effective January 1, 2023. The changes will allow attorneys to comply with their biennial 24-credit CLE requirement through approved self-study courses.

Credits earned via self-study formats such as on-demand programs were previously capped at twelve credits per biennial 24-credit CLE compliance cycle. The self-study caps were waived under an order issued on September 22, 2021, allowing those attorneys to comply with the CLE requirements through approved self-study courses during the pandemic. 

New York: The Judicial Departments of the Appellate Division of the New York State Supreme Court have amended the rules to include a new credit type and requirement for Cybersecurity, Privacy and Data Protection starting in 2023. The order creates two categories of the new Cybersecurity, Privacy and Data Protection credit type: Ethics and General. See § 1500.2 for definitions. 

Beginning on July 1, 2023, both experienced and newly admitted attorneys will need to comply with the 1-credit requirement in the Cybersecurity, Privacy and Data Protection category of CLE credit.

• Experienced attorneys due to re-register on or after July 1, 2023 (birthday is on or after July 1^st) must complete at least 1 CLE credit hour in Cybersecurity, Privacy and Data Protection as part of their biennial CLE requirement. Please see the CLE Program Rules at 22 NYCRR 1500.22(a).
• Newly admitted attorneys whose admission to the New York Bar is on or after July 1, 2023 must complete at least 1 CLE credit hour in Cybersecurity, Privacy and Data Protection as part of their newly admitted CLE requirement. Please see the CLE Program Rules at 22 NYCRR 1500.12(a).

Providers may issue New York CLE credit in Cybersecurity, Privacy and Data Protection to attorneys who complete courses in this new category on or after January 1, 2023.

To assist New York attorneys meet this new CLE requirement, New York CLE Board has prepared Cybersecurity, Privacy and Data Protection FAQs.

Indiana: In an order signed June 6th, 2022, the Indiana Supreme Court has permanently amended continuing education rules to lift limits on distance education. The order vacates the two previously-issued COVID-related orders that waived certain distance-education limits until further notice. 

Georgia: Effective October 22, 2021, The Commission on Continuing Lawyer Competency (CCLC) permanently changed the regulation related to distance learning. Georgia licensed attorneys can now complete all or any portion of their CLE requirement through approved distance learning CLE programs. For further information on this rule change, please see Rule 8-106(15) on the State Bar of Georgia website.

Virginia: The Supreme Court of Virginia, at the request of the Virginia State Bar and Bar Council, amended Paragraph 17, Part Six, Section IV of the Rules of Court to allow elimination of bias education to count toward legal ethics or professionalism requirements for Continuing Legal Education. The Court’s Order, which takes effect on October 11, 2021, may be read here.

Washington: On July 1, 2021, the Washington Supreme Court entered an order (NO. 257-A-1349) adopting the MCLE Board’s suggested amendment, effective September 1, 2022. The amendment to APR 11 requires, per each three-year reporting period, that each licensed legal professional complete at least one (1) ethics credit in the topic of equity, inclusion, and the mitigation of both implicit and explicit bias in the legal profession and the practice of law.

Please see the MCLE Board webpage for more detailed information. 

Texas: Effective June 1, 2021, the State Bar of Texas Board of Directors amended the MCLE Accreditation Standards to allow ethics credit for implicit and explicit bias courses. The board approved the following definition to be included in the MCLE Accreditation Standards adopted by the MCLE Committee: "Legal Professional Responsibility" shall include programs that address the recognition of bias that can impair an attorney’s ability to provide competent legal services.

Kansas: The Kansas Supreme Court has amended the Rules Relating to Continuing Legal Education, effective June 1^st, 2021. The Prerecorded Program Limitation, formerly Rule 8807(i), which stated that no more than six CLE credit hours will be applied toward the annual CLE requirement for an attorney in any compliance period for attendance at or participating in a prerecorded program, has been removed. There are now no limits to credits earned on distance learning courses.

Utah: The Utah State Bar announced that lawyers that comply with the 2021 reporting period will be required to change from a two-year CLE reporting period to a one-year compliance cycle effective July 1, 2021.  

Per The Rules Governing the Utah State Bar – Effective May 1, 2021, the new compliance cycle will follow a fiscal year period (July 1 through June 30) during which an active status lawyer admitted to practice in Utah is required to complete a minimum of 12 hours of Accredited CLE, including 1 hour of legal ethics and 1 hour of professionalism and civility. At least 6 hours must be live CLE, which may include any combination of the following: In-person CLE, Remote Group CLE (CLE sponsored or cosponsored by the Bar, that is presented from a location in Utah, via a live streaming audiovisual presentation, to another location in Utah were the lawyer is present), or Verified E-CLE, which is CLE presented via a computer program or over the Internet where active participation by the lawyer in the CLE is verified by responding to scenarios during the CLE or answering knowledge-based questions during or after the presentation of the CLE.

California: Rule 2.72 of the Rules of the State Bar was revised to increase the elimination of bias requirement from one hour to two and to establish a sub-topic devoted to implicit bias. At least one of those two hours must be focused on implicit bias and the promotion of bias-reducing strategies to address how unintended biases regarding race, ethnicity, gender identity, sexual orientation, socioeconomic status, or other characteristics undermine confidence in the legal system. A licensee shall meet the requirements of this section for each MCLE compliance period ending after January 31, 2022.

Colorado: The Colorado Supreme Court adopted amendments to the rules and regulations governing continuing legal and judicial education in Colorado, effective July 1, 2021. Starting with attorneys with the three-year CLE compliance period that began January 1, 2021, and will end December 31, 2023, Colorado attorneys will need to complete at least two credit hours in equity, diversity, and inclusivity (EDI) and at least five credit hours in legal ethics or legal professionalism. However, the total number of required CLE credit hours remains 45.

New Hampshire: On February 26, 2021,The Supreme Court of The State of New Hampshire amended Rule 53.1C of the New Hampshire MCLE requirement. The reporting year has been changed from July 1 to June 30 to the period from June 1 to May 31. The annual NHMCLE affidavit filing period shall be June 1 to July 1 following the end of the reporting year, and reporting shall be done in the manner specified in Rule 53.3. For further information on the rule change, please see the order on the Supreme Court of New Hampshire’s website.

Iowa: Effective January 1, 2021, all active Iowa attorneys are required to take one hour of attorney wellness CLE or one hour of diversity and inclusion CLE as part of their 15-hour annual CLE requirement. Please see the FAQ page on the Iowa Supreme Court website for further information. The Iowa Supreme Court also amended Rule 41.3(3) to permanently lift the 6 hour cap on unmoderated programming, effective August 28, 2020, For further information on this rule change, please see the order on the Iowa Supreme Court Commission on Continuing Legal Education website.

New Jersey: Effective January 1, 2021, The Supreme Court of New Jersey Board on Continuing Legal Education has amended Rule 1:42-1 (“Continuing Legal Education Required”) and CLE regulations 103:1 and 201:1 to increase the total credit hours required for professionalism and ethics from four to five credits (of the overall total requirement of 24 credits per two-year reporting cycle) and require that at least two credit hours of those five credit hours in professionalism and ethics include the completion of qualifying coursework on diversity, inclusion, and elimination of bias. For further information on the rule change, please see the notice and order on the Supreme Court of New Jersey Board on Continuing Legal Education website.

Minnesota: The Minnesota Supreme Court amended Rules 6D and 9B(4) effective January 1, 2021 to permit lawyers to view and report up to 30 on-demand credits towards reporting periods ending after that date. Courses must be approved for credit prior to viewing per Rule 6D and must be viewed on or after January 1, 2021 if in excess of the 15 credits previously allowed under the Rules. The Court also advised that unless good cause is shown on or before September 30, 2023, the number of on-demand credits permitted will become unlimited as of January 1, 2024 for courses viewed and reported on or after that date. Live webinars continue to count as live courses and are not subject to the same limitations as on demand programs. 

Oklahoma: Effective January 1, 2021, of the 12 required instructional hours of CLE each year, at least two hours must be for programming on Legal Ethics and Professionalism, legal malpractice prevention and/or mental health and substance use disorders. The total required credit will remain 12 credits. See Rule 7, Regulation 3.6 of the Mandatory Continuing Legal Education Rules of The Supreme Court of The State of Oklahoma.

Oregon: Effective September 18, 2020, the Supreme Court ordered amendments to the MCLE Rules and Regulations that move the MCLE compliance deadlines to the spring. Reporting period end dates have changed from December 31 to April 30 of the following year, and reporting deadlines have changed from January 31 to May 31. For further information on the changes, please see the MCLE Deadline Changes FAQ on the Oregon State Bar website.

West Virginia: Effective July 1, 2020, the West Virginia State Bar Administrative Rule 6 was modified to allow “Simultaneous electronic synchronous broadcasts will be approved for the full mandatory continuing legal education requirements if the following criteria are met: (1) the broadcast is designed and organized for interaction among a group of attorneys; (2) the broadcast is merely a distribution of a live program with the same qualified speakers which would address a seminar with live attendees; and (3) attendees are able to have questions answered through synchronous or asynchronous digital media.

PLI’s live webcasts (simultaneous electronic synchronous broadcasts) now qualify for full mandatory continuing legal education requirements and are not subject to the 12-credit limitation that applies to pre-recorded presentations. For further information on this rule change, see rule 6.09(j).

Vermont: Effective July 1, 2020, the total hour requirement per two-year reporting period for attorneys is increased from 20 to 24 hours. The new rules require that at least 12 of the 24 required hours be either Moderated Programming or Non-Moderated Programming with Interactivity as a Key Component and limit the total number of hours of Non-Moderated Programming Without Interactivity to 6 of the 24 required hours. At least one credit hour must be earned per reporting period in Diversity and Inclusion Programming and at least one credit hour must be earned per reporting period in Attorney Wellness Programming. Additionally, excess credit earned in the second year of a reporting period can now be carried over to the next reporting period. For further information on these rule changes, please see Vermont's New MCLE Rules on the Vermont Judiciary website.

Wyoming: An attorney may receive a maximum of eight hours of continuing legal education credit each calendar year for self-study programs where audio, video or online material is used. Activities in which the attorney does not have the opportunity to ask the presenter questions during the presentation may be eligible for self-study credit subject to the eight-hour limit. No self-study hours may be carried over to any subsequent years. For further information on the rule change, please see Rule 6(d) of the Rules of the Wyoming State Board of Continuing Legal Education.

North Carolina: Beginning in 2020, members may take all of their CLE hours online. For members trying to satisfy a deficit prior to 2020, they may take up to six hours of online credit each year towards their CLE requirements. For additional information on the rule change, please refer to the rules and regulations FAQ’s on the North Carolina State Bar website.

Maine: Starting January 1, 2020, and each year thereafter, attorneys shall demonstrate CLE for the prior calendar year. In order to transition from a fiscal year to a calendar year CLE reporting system, attorneys will report for calendar years 2018 (11 credits) and the 2019 CLE requirements (12) credits, for a total of 23 credits beginning January 1, 2020. Attorneys who are deficient in their MCLE requirements at the end of the applicable reporting period shall be considered noncompliant and are entitled to an automatic grace period until the close of business on the last business day of February of the succeeding year to make up their deficiencies.

Virginia: Beginning November 1, 2019, each active member of the Virginia State Bar shall certify whether they have attended, within the past three years, at least one credit hour of lawyer well-being education related to the practice of law. Failure to comply with this rule shall not subject the member to the penalties of Paragraph 13.2 of these rules. For further information, please see rule C(4) of the Continuing Legal Education Requirements.

Ohio: Effective July 1, 2019, Ohio attorneys may earn up to 24 credits per biennial compliance period via Live Interactive Webinars. Live Interactive Webinars are live webcasts that include at least two means of interactivity. Live interactivity may include any direct audience participation and audience response techniques such as the ability to ask a question of the live presenter (attendees can personally ask questions of speakers or can submit written questions to be asked of live speaker); interactivity via chat room accessible by the presenters and other program attendees; the ability for participants to make real-time comments and interact; real-time polling; real-time surveys; and live Q&A sessions. For more information on the rule change, please refer to Supreme Court Rule X, Section 5(E)(2) and Appendix I, Regulation 100(V) on the Supreme Court of Ohio website. View live interactive webinars approved in Ohio.

Illinois: Under Illinois Supreme Court Rule 796(a), Illinois-licensed attorneys are responsible for submitting an MCLE certification ("Initial MCLE Notice") within 31 days after the end of their reporting period. Attorneys can log in to their MCLE account to submit the certification. Effective August 5, 2019, CLE providers are required to report attendance to the Minimum Continuing Legal Education Board of the Supreme Court of Illinois for all credits earned on or after July 1, 2019. This is in addition to an attorney’s obligation to report. Please update your PLI account to include your Illinois ARDC number. For additional information on the rule change, please refer to Illinois Supreme Court Rule 795(a)(9) and (c)(4).

Missouri: Effective July 1, 2019, all active Missouri attorneys are required to complete and report at least two credit hours of accredited programs and activities devoted exclusively to professionalism, substance abuse and mental health, legal or judicial ethics, or malpractice prevention and at least one credit hour of accredited programs and activities devoted exclusively to cultural competency, diversity, inclusion, and implicit bias. For additional information on the rule change, please refer to Rule 15.05 on the Supreme Court of Missouri website. View explicit or implicit bias, diversity, inclusion or cultural competency programs approved in Missouri.

Arkansas: Effective March 7, 2019, the Supreme Court of Arkansas Continuing Legal Education Board allows Arkansas-licensed attorneys to fulfill their requirements with on-demand programs. For additional information on the rule change, please refer to Rule 4.04(6) on the Arkansas Continuing Legal Education Board website. View on-demand programs approved in Arkansas. View on-demand ethics programs approved in Arkansas.

South Carolina: Effective May 1, 2019, Substance Abuse/Mental Health credit shall be a part of the general CLE requirement and cannot be applied to satisfy the legal ethics and professional responsibilities (LEPR) requirement. The credit limit for alternatively delivered programs has increased from 6 to 8 credits per compliance period. For additional information on the rule changes, please refer to the Regulations for Mandatory CLE on the Supreme Court of South Carolina Commission on CLE and Specialization website.

Maine: Effective January 1, 2019, Rule 5(a)(1) has been amended to increase the required annual number of hours of CLE credits from 11 to 12 and to require that at least one live credit hour per year be primarily concerned with ethics and professionalism and one live, in-person credit hour per year be primarily concerned with the recognition and avoidance of harassment and discriminatory conduct or communication related to the practice of law as set out in the Maine Rules of Professional Conduct. This subdivision has also been amended to require attorneys whose required hours are prorated or who register under emeritus status to complete the ethics/professionalism and harassment/discrimination credits. For additional information on the rule change, please refer to Maine Bar Rule 5 on the Maine Board of Overseers of the Bar website.

Florida: Effective March 5, 2019, 5 of the required 33 credit hours must be in approved legal ethics, professionalism, bias elimination, substance abuse, or mental illness awareness programs, with at least 1 of the 5 hours in an approved professionalism program. Compliance for the new rule will begin in the member’s next reporting cycle following the March 5, 2019 effective date. For further information, please see the new professionalism requirement amendment to rule 6-10.3(b) on the Florida Bar website.

Oregon: Effective January 1, 2019, all active Oregon attorneys are required to complete one credit hour on the subject of mental health, substance use or cognitive impairment. At the same time, the credit hour requirements for general/practical skills credits (depending on length of bar membership) will be reduced by one hour. This means the total number of credit hours needed per period will not change. For active members in a regular 3 year cycle, the new credit will count toward the 45 credit minimum. For newly admitted members, the new credit reduces the practical skills credits needed towards the 15 hour minimum. For additional information on the rule change, please refer to the Mental Health and Substance Use Requirement FAQs and MCLE Rule 3.2 and Regulation 3.300(a) on the Oregon State Bar website.

Oklahoma: Effective January 1, 2019, attorneys are no longer subject to the 6 credit limit of "distance learning" per compliance period. There is no limit to the number of credits an attorney can earn via distance learning programs. For additional information on the rule change, please refer to Rule 7, Regulation 4.1.9 of the Rules of the Oklahoma Supreme Court for Mandatory Continuing Legal Education.

North Carolina: Effective January 1, 2019, attorneys must complete 1 credit hour devoted to technology per compliance period. This type of credit will count as part of the existing requirement of 12 credits, including 2 professional responsibility credits. For additional information on the rule change, please refer to the Amendments to the Annual CLE Requirements on the North Carolina State Bar website.

Indiana: Effective January 1, 2019, attorneys may earn a maximum of 18 distance education credits per three-year compliance period. For additional information on the rule change, please refer to the Order Amending Indiana Rules for Admission to the Bar and the Discipline of Attorneys.