As a course provider, what are the requirements for advertising Illinois CLE courses?
In advertising a course, the course provider needs to follow these requirements, based on the course application’s status:
Approved
If a course has “Approved” status in PCAM, you may advertise that the course is approved for Illinois CLE credit for the total credits approved and displayed in PCAM. Look at the provider’s PCAM course list to verify the course status. You can also check the email approval sent to the provider’s PCAM contacts. Providers can also view total hours approved in the MCLE Decision section of the PCAM course view.
Application Pending
You may advertise using this phrase only after submitting the course in PCAM with the correct fee, but before the Board decides the accreditation request. During this time, you may also state the number of hours requested in the application. Then, you need to communicate with Illinois attorneys soon after the Board issues its decision.
No Application Pending
When applying to accredit a course, a provider has an established deadline based on the course start date. These deadlines fall on or after the course start date, so the provider has ample opportunity to determine if attendees need Illinois credit. Given that, the Board recommends that you not advertise that you intend to apply for Illinois accreditation. If you do, you must complete the application process because you have informed attorneys that you would do so. Board staff cannot waive established deadlines or late fees for any reason.
Attorneys must be able to rely on the accuracy of advertisements and written statements about Illinois MCLE accreditation. When a provider gives inaccurate information, an attorney may rely on that information to take a course for Illinois CLE credit, then find that no credit is available. Given this possible harm to Illinois-licensed attorneys, the Board will need to act when it learns of such inaccurate information.
When the Board learns that a provider has advertised or stated in writing that a course has accreditation for Illinois MCLE credit, but the provider has not obtained this accreditation, the Board will first attempt to communicate with the provider. If the provider fails to submit a course application with the correct fee within the time allowed in the Fee Schedule, then the Board will ban it from submitting course applications for courses that take place in the following six months. Repeated similar incidents will result in a more extended ban and a possible permanent ban on course applications.
When the Board learns that a provider has advertised or stated in writing that a course is accredited in Illinois but did not pay the correct fee for the application, the Board will first attempt to communicate with the provider. The Board will give the provider a brief opportunity to correct its application in PCAM if the stated deadline for applying to accredit the course has not passed. If the provider fails to pay the correct fee as requested, the Board will ban it from submitting applications to accredit courses taking place in the following six months. Repeated similar incidents will result in a more extended ban and a possible permanent ban on course applications.
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