As a newly admitted attorney, when can I begin to earn carryover credit for my initial two-year reporting period?
Supreme Court Rule(s) cited in this FAQ:
Rule 793 and
Rule 794 .
Newly-admitted attorneys can begin earning Illinois MCLE credit on their Illinois admission date (except for the Basic Skills Course or a mentoring program approved by the Commission on Professionalism that can be taken before Illinois admission if certain criteria are met -- learn more).
After your Illinois bar admission, you may earn credits that exceed the newly-admitted attorney requirement even before your first two-year reporting period begins. If you do, you can carry over up to 15 hours to your first two-year reporting period. Those 15 hours can include up to six approved for professional responsibility (PR) credit carried over to your initial two-year reporting period requirement.
Here is how to calculate carryover credit for your initial two-year reporting period:
- First, you total the CLE hours earned in the initial two-year reporting period.
- Then, if you need more credits to reach the 30 required credits (including six approved for PR), you may add allowable carryover hours to bring your total hours to the required hours for the reporting period.
Any hours not needed to meet the initial two-year reporting period's requirement are forfeited and cannot be applied to future reporting periods. Rule 793, Rule 794(c)(2).
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