CLE Credit Requirements

According to the North Carolina State Bar Web site:

An active member of the North Carolina State Bar who does not qualify for an exemption must take twelve (12) hours of approved CLE during each calendar year. Of these 12 hours, 2 must be in the area of professional responsibility or professionalism or any combination thereof. If a lawyer takes more than the required 12 hours in a calendar year, up to 2 additional hours of professional responsibility and up to 10 additional hours of general education may be carried over to the next calendar year. There is no provision to carry hours over multiple years.

At least once every three calendar years, each lawyer must complete an additional hour of professional responsibility devoted exclusively to instruction in substance abuse awareness or debilitating mental conditions, and a lawyer's professional responsibilities. Lawyers admitted before July 1, are subject to all CLE requirements for that calendar year. Lawyers admitted on or after July 1 of any year do not have CLE requirements until the next calendar year.

The CLE rules also require every active lawyer, regardless of exempt status, to file an annual written report of his/her CLE activity for the preceding year. To facilitate that filing, the CLE office mails each lawyer an Annual Report Form in January. The report includes a transcript of all the CLE activity for the previous calendar year reported to our office by CLE sponsors. It is the lawyer's responsibility to review that transcript, to make any necessary changes, to verify the CLE activity, to pay any outstanding attendee fees ($3.00 per credit hour), and to return the form to us by the last day of February.

For more information on CLE credit, go to the North Carolina State Bar website at http://www.nccle.org/.

Questions regarding MCLE in North Carolina:

CLE credits will be reported to the North Carolina State Board of Continuing Legal Education for all North Carolina participants who request credit on their registration form. Out-of-state participants should note on their registration form if they would like to receive CLE credit. We will be happy to verify attendance or provide you with any information needed to report the hours to other MCLE states.

You may contact the Continuing Legal Education department in the following ways:

By US postal mail:

The North Carolina State Bar
ATTN: North Carolina Continuing Legal Education
PO Box 26148
Raleigh, NC 27611

By Phone:

919.733.0123

By Fax:

919.821.9168

By E-mail:

• Debra Holland
  dholland@ncbar.gov
• Lori Nicolicchia
  lnicolicchia@ncbar.gov
• Emily Oakes
  eoakes@ncbar.gov