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Earn MCLE

Top FAQs

How many hours of CLE do I need?

How many of the CLE hours must be professional responsibility CLE?

Can I carryover CLE hours from one reporting period to another?

Attorneys may choose from a variety of opportunities to earn CLE credit -- from traditional live and recorded courses to non-traditional activities, including publishing legal scholarly works and teaching certain CLE and law courses.


Three Ways To Earn CLE Credit

  1. Participate in CLE courses presented by Accredited CLE Providers or accredited for CLE as individually Approved Courses;
  2. New Date! Apply On-line to claim Illinois MCLE credits from certain out-of-state courses attended on or after January 1, 2006 through our on-line Individual Attorney Application. More >; and
  3. Participate in certain non-traditional CLE activities. Specific criteria must be met for these non-traditional activities to qualify for CLE credit:
  • Attend a law school course. More >
  • Attend a legal presentation at a bar association meeting and earn 1.0 hour or less of MCLE credit. More >
  • Teach an accredited CLE course. More >
  • Teach (part-time only) a law course at a law school, university, college or community college. More >
  • Judge a law school moot court argument. More >
  • Write a published legal book or article. More >

Distance Learning Options

There is no limit to the amount of CLE hours an attorney can earn by viewing or listening to courses that are recorded so long as the provider has applied for those delivery methods and demonstrated that there is an interactive component to the delivery methods. Those delivery methods can include: on-demand, videotape, DVD, CD and podcasts. More >


Fee For Claiming Nontraditional Credits

If you choose to claim CLE credits from nontraditional activities in a two-year reporting period, you need to pay a $20.00 flat fee.  That fee is due when you report compliance at the end of the two-year reporting period. More >


Carryover Credits


A maximum of 10 general CLE hours earned between January 1, 2006, and the beginning of an attorney's first two-year reporting period may be carried over to the first two-year reporting period. Then no more than 10 general CLE hours may be carried over from a two-year reporting period to the next two-year reporting period. Professional responsibility credits may be carried over from one reporting period to the next only as general credits.  More >


Professional Responsibility Credits


Four hours of professional responsibility credits must be earned during each two-year reporting period. Professional responsibility credits include professionalism, issues involving diversity, mental illness and addiction issues, civility or legal ethics. For information about professional responsibility ethics credit, visit the Commission on Professionalism web site: www.ilsccp.org.

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