What are the requirements for a provider to apply to accredit a Basic Skills course?
Supreme Court Rule(s) cited in this FAQ:
Rule 793 and
Rule 796.
To accredit a Basic Skills course, the provider must use PCAM to submit a Basic Skills course application, including planned curriculum, dates, and times, for approval. Basic Skills courses are not presumptively approved.
Given that both the MCLE Board and Commission on Professionalism (Commission) must approve the course before it begins, the MCLE Board must receive the application in PCAM and fee no later than 45 days before the course start date. Accredited Providers pay no additional charge for this application.
The course must have no fewer than six hours of professional responsibility (PR) on topics such as:
- Practice techniques and procedures under the Illinois Rules of Professional Conduct
- Client communications
- Use of trust accounts
- Attorneys’ other obligations under the Court’s Rules
- Required record keeping
- Other PR topics (including professionalism, diversity/inclusion, mental health/substance abuse, and civility)
First, the MCLE Board reviews the application. If the Board approves it for at least six hours of general CLE credit, the Commission then reviews the PR request. The Board and Commission email their decisions to the provider’s PCAM contacts with those decisions posted on the provider’s PCAM Dashboard.
After that accreditation, the provider has other responsibilities. These responsibilities include keeping attendance records, issuing attendance and teaching certificates to all Illinois-licensed attorneys, reporting attendance, and paying hourly attendance fees.
To assist newly-admitted attorneys who are new to the MCLE requirements, the attendance certificates and any completion affidavits for Basic Skills Courses must contain the following specific text in at least 12-point font:
For attendance certificates:
Important information:
Keep this certificate of attendance in your records for at least three years after the end of your newly-admitted attorney reporting period. Do not send this attendance certificate to the Illinois MCLE Board unless the Board audits you.
To avoid a $250 late fee, you must report your MCLE compliance directly to the MCLE Board before the deadline in Rules 793 and 796 of the Supreme Court of Illinois. Report online (mcleboard.org ). Go to mcleboard.org for more details. [Insert provider name here] does not report your MCLE compliance to the MCLE Board.
For affidavits of completion:
Important information:
Once [insert provider name here] receives this affidavit that you have completed this recorded course, [insert provider name here] will send an attendance certificate to you. Keep the attendance certificate issued by [insert provider name here] in your records for at least three years after your newly-admitted attorney reporting period ends. Do not send this affidavit of completion or the resulting attendance certificate to the Illinois MCLE Board unless the Board audits you.
To avoid a $250 late fee, you must report your MCLE compliance directly to the MCLE Board before the deadline in Rules 793 and 796 of the Supreme Court of Illinois. Report online (mcleboard.org ). Go to mcleboard.org for more details. [Insert provider name here] does not report your MCLE compliance to the MCLE Board.
Rule 793.
To learn more, see “PR-CLE Guidelines” at the Commission’s website (2civility.org), or call them 312-363-6210.
For each newly-admitted attorney, the rest of the 15-hour NAA requirement is satisfied with nine more Illinois-approved hours of the attorney’s choosing.
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