The following (40) states require lawyers to take mandatory continuing legal education (MCLE) courses. For further information on your state MCLE requirements, contact your state regulatory entity.
Alabama
12 hrs. per calendar year. Reporting date: December 31.
Arizona
15 hrs. Per calendar year including 3 hrs. ethics/prof. responsibility, professionalism, substance abuse, or ADR. Reporting date: September 15.
Arkansas
12 hrs. Per year including 1 hour of legal ethics. Reporting date: June 30.
California
36 hrs. over 3-year period including 8 hrs. of legal ethics/law practice management of which 4 hrs. must be legal ethics; 1 hr. substance abuse/emotional distress and 1 hr. elimination of bias in the profession. Reporting date: January 31.
Colorado
45 hrs. over 3-year period including 7 hrs. legal ethics, professionalism. Reporting date: anytime within 3 year period.
Delaware
24 hrs. over 2-year period including 4 hrs. Enhanced Ethics, with exceptions for Senior Attorneys, newly admitted attorneys, and attorneys resuming active practice. Comity for Out-of-State Attorneys primarily practicing in other MCLE states. Reporting date: December 31. Fundamentals of Law series required for Recently Admitted Attorneys within 4 years of admission, consisting of 3 full-day programs."
Florida
30 hrs. over 3-year period including 5hrs. legal ethics, basic skills course for newly admitted attorneys. Reporting date: assigned month every 3 years.
Georgia
12 hrs. per year including 1 hr. legal ethics, professionalism, basic skills within 1st 2 yrs., ADR 3 hrs. one time only. Reporting date: January 31.
Idaho
30 hrs. over 3-year period including 2 hrs. legal ethics, basic skills course for new admittees. Reporting date: every 3rd year depending on year of admission.
Indiana
36 hrs. over 3 calendar year period with 6 hr. minimum per year including 3 hrs. legal ethics. Reporting date: December 31.
Iowa
15 hrs. per calendar year including 2 hrs. legal ethics every 2 years. Reporting date: March 1.
Kansas
12 hrs. per year including 2 hrs. legal ethics. Reporting date: 30 days after program.
Kentucky
12.50 hrs. per year including 2 hrs. legal ethics, new lawyer skills training within 12 mos. of admission. Reporting date: June 30.
Louisiana
15 hrs. per year including 1 hr. legal ethics, professionalism -1 hr./year. Reporting date: January 31.
Maine
11 hours per year 1 hour ethics/professional responsibility. Reporting date: Annually in connection with filing of registration statement required by Maine Bar Rule 6(a).
Minnesota
45 hrs. over 3-year period, 3 hrs. legal ethics required in each seminar, 2 hrs. bias. Reporting date: August 30.
Mississippi
12 hrs. per year including 1 hr. legal ethics, prof. responsibility, or malpractice prevention each year. Reporting date: July 31.
Missouri
15 hours per year including 3 hrs. ethics every 3 years, new admittees 3 hrs. professionalism, legal/judicial ethics within 12 mos. Reporting date: July 31.
Montana
15 hrs. per year. Reporting date: March 1.
Nevada
12 hrs. per year of which 2 must be in ethics. Reporting date: March 1.
New Hampshire
12 hrs. per year/at least 6 must come from out of the office live programs, including 2 hrs legal ethics/professionalism, or substance abuse. Reporting date:August1.
New Mexico
15 hrs. per year including 1 hr. ethics. Reporting date: Prior to March 1 annually.
New York
Newly Admitted Attorneys: Admitted after 10/97
32 credit hours of accredited "transitional" education within the first two years of admission to the Bar.
- *Three (3) hours of ethics and professionalism;
- *Six (6) hours of practical skills; and
- *Seven (7) hours of practice management and areas of
professional practice.
Reporting period: every 2 years from the time admitted to the Bar.
Experienced Attorneys: Admitted before 10/97
24 credit hours of accredited continuing legal education during each biennial reporting cycle.
- *Four (4) hours of ethics and professionalism; the remaining
- *Twenty (20) hours can be a combination of ethics and
professionalism, skills, practice management, and/or areas
of professional practice.
Reporting period: every 2 years from the time admitted to the Bar.
North Carolina
12 hrs. per year including 2 hrs. ethics, 9 of the 12 hrs. in practical skills during first 3 yrs. of admission, and 1 hr. substance abuse or debilitating mental conditions every 3 yrs. Reporting date: February 28.
North Dakota
45 hrs. over 3-year period, 3 hrs. ethics every 3 yrs. Reporting date: June 30.
Ohio
24 hrs. every two years including 1 hr. of ethics based on the Code of Professional Responsibility, 1 hr.of professionalism based on A Lawyer’s Creed and A Lawyer’s Aspirational Ideals and thirty minutes of substance abuse education that includes a discussion of prevention, detection, causes and treatment alternatives. An attorney’s reporting date is determined by the alphabetical grouping of the attorney’s last name and is every two years on January 31.
Attorneys can only receive self-study credit for courses APPROVED by the Commission for self-study credits. Additionally, self-study hours are capped and attorneys can only receive 6 hours of self-study credit every two years. This includes audio, video, internet-based, and CD-Rom based educational activities.
Oklahoma
12 hrs. per year including 1 hr. ethics. Reporting date: February 15.
Oregon
45 hrs. over 3-year period including 6 hrs. ethics, new admittees-15 hrs. of which 10 must be in practical skills and 2 hrs. in ethics. Reporting date: every 3 years.
Pennsylvania
12 hrs. per year for all 3 compliance groups. 1 hr. ethics, professionalism, or substance abuse and a minimum of 11 hrs. of substantive law, practice and procedure, CLE crs. for ethics, professionalism, or substance abuse may be applied to any substantive law, practice and procedure requirement, no more than two times the current annual CLE requirement may be carried forward into the two succeeding years. Reporting date: 30 days after program.
Rhode Island
10 hrs. per year including 2 hrs. ethics. Reporting date: July 1-June 30 annually.
South Carolina
14 hrs. per year including 2 hrs. ethics/professional responsibility each reporting period. Reporting date: January 15.
Tennessee
15 hrs. per year. *Including 3 hrs. ethics/professionalism. Reporting date: March 1.
Texas
15 hrs. per year including 3 hrs.legal ethics. 1 hr. of the 3 hrs. of legal ethics may be completed through self-study. 5 hrs. of the total 15 hrs. may be completed through self-study. Reporting date: last day of birth month each year.
Utah
27 hrs. every 2-years including 3 hrs. ethics each reporting period . Reporting date: end of second year compliance period.
Vermont
20 hrs. over 2-yrs. including 2 hrs. ethics each reporting period. Reporting date: July 15.
Virginia
12 hrs. per year including 2 hrs. ethics each reporting period. Reporting date: December 15..
Washington
45 hrs. over 3 yrs. including 6 hrs. ethics, profesional responsibility, professionalism,bias and diversity. Reporting date: January 31.
West Virginia
24 hrs. over 2-yrs. including 3 hrs. ethics or office management or substance abuse per cycle. Reporting date: June 30 every 2 yrs.
Wisconsin
30 hrs. over 2-yrs. including 3 hrs. ethics and professional responsibility. Reporting date: December 31st every other year.
Wyoming
15 hrs. per year including 1 hr. ethics. Reporting date: January 30
