California CLE Requirements

25 credit hours every three years

All credit hours may be completed online.

All TRTCLE courses are approved for "participatory" MCLE credit.

General: 15 hours (max)
Legal Ethics: At least 4 hours
Competence Issues: At least 2 hours, with at least one hour focused on prevention and detection competence
Elimination of Bias: At least 2 hours, with at least one hour focused on implicit bias and the promotion of bias-reducing strategies
Technology: At least 1 hour
Civility in the Legal Profession: At least 1 hour


*IMPORTANT CHANGES*
Changes to the MCLE course requirements effective October 1, 2023: Beginning with the compliance period ending January 31, 2025, attorneys must comply with the following new requirements:

* At least 1 hour of Technology in the Practice of Law: One hour addressing technology in the practice of law, including education on technology tools, programs, or applications to assist attorneys in their law practice

* At least 1 hour of Civility in the Legal Profession: One hour addressing civility in the legal profession, including education that discusses the link between civility and bias, incivility that is directed at opposing parties or counsel, and incivility aimed at the judiciary

* At least 2 hours of Competence Issues: At least one of the two hours must be focused on prevention and detection education that addresses substance use or other mental or physical issues that impair a licensee’s ability to perform legal services with competence (prevention and detection competence); and An optional one-hour focused on wellness education, including physical and mental wellness and wellbeing or stress management, in the context of the practice of law and the impact these issues can have on an attorney’s ability to perform legal services with competence (wellness competence)

Attorneys with last names beginning with A-G (Group 1).
Compliance period: 2/1/22-3/29/25
Deadline to report: Apr. 1, 2025

Attorneys with last names beginning with H-M (Group 2).
Compliance period: 2/1/24-3/29/27
Deadline to report: Mar. 30, 2027

Attorneys with last names beginning with N-Z (Group 3).
Compliance period: 2/1/23-3/29/26
Deadline to report: Mar. 30, 2026


NOTICE: Please note the following updates to MCLE compliance deadlines:

* Last names A-G: Extended to a single 38-month cycle ending March 29, 2025. Report deadline: April 1, 2025.

* Compliance groups 2 and 3: Extended to a single 38-month cycle ending March 29, 2026, or 2027. Report deadline: March 30.

* After the single 38-month cycle, each group returns to a standard 36-month cycle starting March 30 of their respective year and ending the day before the deadline 36 months later.

Attorneys assigned to a compliance group will always remain in that same group, even if they change their last name.
* Attorneys admitted on or before Feb. 1, 1992, were assigned to a compliance group based on the first letter of their last name, as listed on their official State Bar records, effective Feb. 1, 1992 (the beginning of the MCLE program.)
* Attorneys admitted after Feb. 1, 1992, are assigned to a compliance group based on the first letter of the last name listed on their admit cards. Admit cards are filled out when they are sworn in.

Attorneys are required to complete their MCLE requirements by the end of their compliance group's deadline.

Group 1: Apr. 1, 2025

Group 2: Mar. 30, 2027

Group 3: Mar. 30, 2026

California is a self-reporting jurisdiction. Attorneys must certify their compliance by logging into their State Bar Profile at My State Bar Profile and submitting a statement of compliance.

Attorneys may not carry over credits into the next compliance period.

New admittees may be subject to a proportional requirement based on their date of admission. Click here to calculate your newly admitted requirement.

• 

  Office of Certification
  State Bar of California
  180 Howard Street
  San Francisco, CA 94105-1639
  

• (T) (415) 538-2000
• www.calbar.ca.gov