Earn MCLE
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
- Participate in CLE courses approved for Illinois credit. Search by course or provider: Find A Course, or Find A Provider;
- 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. One dollar per hour or fraction thereof: minimum $15.00 course submission More >; and
- 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 More >, 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 >
Claiming Nontraditional Credits
On September 27, 2011 the Supreme Court of Illinois eliminated the $20.00 nontraditional flat fee owed by attorneys who report compliance by earning nontraditional CLE credits effective for all two year reporting periods beginning July 1, 2010 and after.
More > See also, Fee Schedule
Carryover Credits
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. MCLE Rule 795(c). 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.
Effective for reporting periods ending June 30 and thereafter increase in required professional responsibility hours!
By Order entered October 1, 2010, the Supreme Court of Illinois has amended its MCLE Rules to increase the number of required professional responsibility credits to a minimum of six hours. This change applies to all reporting periods that end June 30, 2012 and thereafter.
This change does not apply to the N-Z attorney reporting period July 1, 2009 through June 30, 2011. For that reporting period, an attorney needs to earn at least 24 hours of MCLE credit, including at least four hours approved for professional responsibility credit.
Beginning with the July 1, 2010 through June 30, 2012 reporting period for attorneys with last names beginning A-M, and for all reporting periods thereafter, the general MCLE requirement is 30 hours, including a minimum of six hours of professional responsibility credit. See
MCLE Rule 794(d)(1).
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