CLE rules have temporarily changed in several states due to the Coronavirus Pandemic. MCLEZ is monitoring these changes and will provide updates as they occur.
Alabama: No rule changes have been made at this time.
Alaska: No rule changes have been made at this time.
Arizona:The Supreme Court of Arizona has issued an Order extending the deadlines for both the completion of mandatory continuing legal education hours and the required affidavit of compliance, solely for the educational year 2019-2020. The deadline for completion of the necessary hours is extended through December 30, 2020; the deadline for submission of the affidavit of compliance is also extended through December 30, 2020.
California: The State Bar of California has issued an order extending the late CLE deadline, which was previously June 30, 2020, to September 30, 2020 for attorneys in Group 3 who have not yet completed their MCLE requirement. Failure to complete the requirement by September 30, and pay any outstanding license fees, will result in being enrolled in Involuntary Inactive status.
Connecticut: No rule changes have been made at this time.
Florida: The Florida Bar issued an order extending CLE reporting deadlines for February, March, April and May 2020 to August 31, 2020. All other annual compliance deadlines remain the same.
Georgia: The Supreme Court of Georgia issued an order temporarily waiving the 6 hour in-person CLE requirement until the late CLE deadline on March 31, 2020. Georgia attorneys can now complete their full 12 hour requirement through self-study, in-house or online seminars.
Illinois: The Illinois Supreme Court has issued an order extending the MCLE deadline by 90 days (to September 30) for attorneys due in 2020 (last name A-M) who are unable to complete their requirement by June 30. To receive this extension, attorneys must log in to the MCLE Board's website and report "Not Yet Completed" by July 31. No reason for the extension is required.
Indiana: The Indiana Supreme Court has waived the credit-hour limitations on distance education courses for attorneys whose three-year Educational Period ends on December 31, 2020. Those credit-hour limitations are amended for all other attorneys whose educational periods expire on or before December 31, 2022 may obtain no more than 24 hours of distance education. https://www.in.gov/judiciary/files/order-other-2020-20S-ms-239.pdf
Kansas:On April 8, 2020, the Kansas Supreme Court issued Administrative Order 2020-RL-033. This order modifies continuing legal education attendance and reporting deadlines, and waives the limitation on prerecorded programming through September 30, 2020
Kentucky: No rule changes have been made at this time.
Maine:The Maine Supreme Judicial Court has issued an order temporarily waiving the in-person CLE requirement. Maine attorneys may complete their entire CLE requirement via On-Demand courses until further notice. In addition, the Board of Overseers of the Bar for the State of Maine has extended the reporting deadline to May 1, 2020 and will not impose any late fees for the 2018-2019 reporting period.
Mississippi: The Supreme Court of Mississippi approved the waiver of the in-person requirement for MCLE so that attorneys may earn all their credits through online programs or live webinars. The Court also extended the deadline to September 30, 2020 with a reporting deadline of October 15, 2020. This waiver and deadline extension also apply to newly licensed attorneys whose new lawyer requirement deadline is July 31, 2020. https://courts.ms.gov/appellatecourts/docket/sendPDF.php?f=700_496517.pdf&c=91465&a=N&s=2
Missouri: No rule changes have been made at this time.
Montana: No rule changes have been made at this time.
Nevada: No rule changes have been made at this time.
New Hampshire:No rule changes have been made at this time.
New Jersey: The Supreme Court of New Jersey issued an order temporarily relaxing the 12-hour live classroom credit requirement. Until further notice from the courts, New Jersey attorneys may fulfill their entire CLE requirement through approved courses offered in alternative verifiable learning formats.
New York: No rule changes have been made at this time.
North Carolina: No rule changes have been made at this time.
North Dakota: Effective immediately and continuing until further notice attorneys in Reporting Group 3, who report in 2020, will be allowed to earn all or a portion of the required 45 credits through self-study. Three (3) ethics CLE hours will still be required. https://www.sband.org/news/496604/Important-News-from-the-ND-CLE-Commission.htm
Ohio: The Ohio Commission on Continuing Legal Education has waived the self-study cap for the 2018-2019 Late Compliance period and extended the deadline to June 29, 2020. Ohio attorneys who still need to finish their CLE requirements from the 2018-2019 compliance period can do so by watching On-Demand programming.
Oklahoma: No rule changes have been made at this time.
Pennsylvania: The April 30, 2020 CLE compliance deadline is extended to August 31, 2020. Click Here to View Court Order
South Carolina: Chief Justice Donald Beatty issued an order on March 17, 2020, allowing lawyers who failed to comply with the 2019-2020 CLE requirements to earn all or any portion of the required 14 hours of CLE credit for the annual reporting year through online or telephonic programs.
Tennessee: On March 27, 2020, the Supreme Court issued an order allowing attorneys to use unlimited online hours to establish their compliance for the 2020 compliance year. Attorneys seeking reinstatement in 2020 are also covered by the order.
Texas: The State Bar of Texas has granted the following automatic extensions for their CLE requirement: (1) A 60 day extension for attorneys with March, April, or May 2020 compliance deadlines; (2) A 60 day extension for missed January or February 2020 compliance deadlines, to prevent the assessment of further fees; (3) A one month extension for attorneys subject to suspension for failure to comply with MCLE requirements in November or December 2019.
Utah: The Supreme Court Board of Continuing Education issued an order suspending all requirements for the in-person CLE requirement until June 30, 2020. Utah attorneys can now complete their required hours through webinars and other self-study courses.
Vermont: No rule changes have been made at this time.
Virginia:The Supreme Court of Virginia issued an order April 14, 2020, extending a number of compliance deadlines that affect Virginia lawyers to ease their professional responsibilities during the COVID-19 emergency. The order extends the MCLE compliance deadline from October 31, 2020 to December 31, 2020.
Washington: No rule changes have been made at this time.
