How is credit calculated and reported to the Board for teaching an accredited CLE course or activity?
Important: for this type of credit to count toward your MCLE requirements, you need to confirm certain information about that teaching in your online transcript after the course provider reports these credits. See details below.
An attorney may earn Illinois teaching credits for teaching a CLE course accredited by the MCLE Board. The attorney may teach the accredited course, or segment of the course, either individually or as part of a panel. If the Commission on Professionalism approves all or a portion of the course for professional responsibility (PR) credit, then CLE credit earned for teaching the approved hours is also approved for PR credit.
- An attorney is not permitted to earn attendance credit for a course, or segment of a course, that they teach. However, an attorney may earn attendance credit for other segments of the accredited course that they do not teach either individually or as part of a panel.
- Most moderators of an accredited CLE course are not eligible to earn teaching credit for that role. Instead, they may earn attendance credit for the course or segment that they moderate. The exception: if a moderator is an active and substantive contributor to a panel presentation and is identified as a "moderator/panelist" in the timed agenda, the attorney is eligible for panelist teaching time.
Calculating teaching CLE credit for an accredited CLE course
Total teaching credit = actual presentation time plus six times that number counted as preparation time. If the course, or session of the course, is taught by more than one teacher, actual teaching time is divided by the number of teachers with preparation time based on each speaker’s share of teaching. This is true even if the other teachers are not attorneys.
An attorney earns full credit the first time the attorney teaches a course, then earns one-half credit for teaching the same course a second time. After the second time, no credit is earned for teaching that same course.
An attorney can only earn new credit for teaching that course by making substantial (major) and substantive (meaningful) changes to it. “Substantial and substantive changes” is determined by the teaching attorney, but the MCLE Board sees it as revising content in a thorough and detailed manner to reflect, for example, new statutes, new court opinions, new regulations, revised procedures, or new guidance.
If audited, the attorney will be asked to support the claim that the course has been changed in this way. Rearranging the same content, changing font size or type, and making minor edits or additions are not considered substantial and substantive changes.
Provider reports CLE credit for teaching an Illinois MCLE-accredited course then attorney needs to confirm credit online
The provider reports to the MCLE Board the teaching credit earned by an Illinois-licensed attorney for teaching an Illinois MCLE-accredited course. That report includes the preparation time as calculated by the Rule-established formula of six hours of preparation time for each hour of presentation time. The provider must report the credit by the 15th of the next month after the credit is earned.
Once the provider reports the teaching credit, the attorney will be prompted to confirm entry of that credit when logged into their My MCLE home page. When confirming the teaching credit, the attorney will need to report if it is the first, second, or third-plus time the attorney is claiming credit for teaching that same material.
The course provider is required to issue a teaching certificate to each Illinois-licensed attorney who teaches the course. Retain your MCLE certificates and other compliance documents until your online transcript reflects your credits earned in the reporting period and for three years after your reporting period ends.
Click here for more information on how to confirm your teaching credit through the attorney My MCLE home page.
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