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Purpose and History In September 2005, the Supreme Court of Illinois took the significant step of establishing minimum continuing legal education ("MCLE") requirements for Illinois attorneys under Supreme Court Rules 790-798. As part of that important undertaking, the Court created the MCLE Board of the Supreme Court of Illinois to establish and administer the MCLE program. The Court also created the Commission on Professionalism to address issues of professionalism. In November, 2005, the Court appointed the first MCLE Board Members with the Board holding its first meeting in December, 2005. The Board had no staff, no office and no operations. In just nine months after the Board's first meeting, the MCLE Board had hired and trained its staff, leased an office, moved into temporary and then permanent office space, equipped that office with computers, telephones, furniture and other supplies and began the program's operations. On September 14, 2006, the Court approved the fee schedule for the MCLE program. The next day, the MCLE Board began accepting applications for Accredited CLE Provider status and, by that action, began operating the MCLE program. Since that time, the MCLE Board has accredited thousands of individual courses and approved several hundred Accredited CLE Provider applications. Two of the most widely-used delivery methods are faculty in the room with participants and live audio conferences (typically, a telephone conference call). Accredited courses using these delivery methods (approved either through individual course applications or Accredited CLE Provider applications) have been hosted in Illinois, in all 50 United States and around the world. The MCLE Board has undertaken a multifaceted outreach campaign to educate attorneys and providers about the Illinois MCLE program. Those efforts by the Board and staff include:
On October 4, 2007, the Supreme Court adopted a rule that allows attorneys to apply to the MCLE Board to claim MCLE credit for participating in live out-of-state courses that meet certain requirements. On February 29, 2008, the MCLE Board unveiled its on-line application that allows attorneys to submit their information on-line and pay the required fee by major credit card or check. The first two-year reporting period for attorneys with last names beginning A-M ends June 30, 2008. Attorneys will complete a paper certification form or report compliance on-line. The on-line compliance reporting program will allow attorneys to log on to the Board's web site and submit their compliance reports. The MCLE office is established as a paperless office. All applications are submitted and reviewed electronically thereby reducing the high cost and waste of paper management. The MCLE Board and its staff are working to create a database to facilitate on-line provider accounts, enabling providers to submit applications, attendance reporting and fees on-line. Attorneys will also benefit from this database as providers will be able to list their individual course offerings. The MCLE Board and its staff thank you for visiting our web site. Please visit this site to find answers to your questions and to obtain updates about the MCLE program. Our web site provides information For Attorneys licensed in Illinois, as well as expanded information For CLE Course Providers. |