What is California’s MCLE (Minimum Continuing Legal Education) requirement?

MCLE is required for most actively practicing attorneys in California. Learn more about MCLE requirements, competencies, providers, and more.

If you’re an actively practicing attorney in the state of California or plan to become one soon, chances are you will be required to complete California’s Minimum Continuing Legal Education (MCLE) requirement. Navigating through the mandatory standards and specific details of this requirement may seem daunting at first, but we’ve broken down some of the most important aspects of the California MCLE requirement below, including number of credits required, important deadlines, and educational providers.

MCLE requirements

With a handful of exemptions, most lawyers who are actively practicing law in the state of California are required to complete 25 hours of Minimum Continuing Legal Education (MCLE) every three years. MCLE must be reported and filed with the State Bar of California.

Below is a summary of the types of credit hours that are required.

Participatory credit

At least 12.5 hours must fall under “participatory credit.”

Participatory credit hours can be verified if:

• You are required to sign in at the time of activity (in-person or electronic)
• The provider keeps a record of the participants who signed in
• The provider gives a certificate of completion to acknowledge the participant’s attendance

Courses taken on the internet or with the assistance of media like CDs and tapes may also be eligible as participatory credit if the provider has gained approval for this style of education. Regardless, it’s important to always double check with the provider if the credit has been verified.

Self-study credit

Credit hours listed as “self-study” cannot exceed a total of 12.5 hours. Some activities that qualify as self-study include:

• Utilizing study materials online and showing that one has fully understood the material by taking an assessment exam
• Composing written materials for a law book or future legal education

Additional requirements:

• 4 or more hours in legal ethics
• 1 hour or more in competence issues
• 1 hour or more in “Recognition and Elimination of Bias in the Legal Profession and Society”

For more information on California’s MCLE requirements and a detailed list of California MCLE providers, we recommend visiting the State Bar of California’s official website.

MCLE compliance

All lawyers in the State of California (except for those on voluntary inactive status) must report their compliance with the MCLE requirements by providing a statement of compliance to the State Bar of California. Compliance can be reported online via the My State Bar Profile. Deadlines will vary based on the lawyer’s compliance group.

Lawyers will be held accountable for the MCLE requirement based on the statuses listed below and will be responsible for reporting their compliance to the State Bar of California:

• Active attorneys
• Not eligible attorneys, who are suspended for disciplinary reasons
• Exempt attorneys
  • If you’re exempt for the whole compliance period, you are required to report your exemption; however, you are not required to complete any education.
  • If you’re exempt for only part of the compliance period, you are required to complete a prorated amount of education and report that information as your compliance.
• Retired attorneys
  • Lawyers who are retired but still maintain an “active” status are responsible for meeting the MCLE requirements, regardless of whether they are actively practicing or not.
  • Those on “inactive status” are not subject to accumulating MCLE credit hours during the time they are on “inactive status” only. Furthermore, they would not be required to report their compliance to the State Bar of California.

For more information on California MCLE compliance, we recommended visiting the MCLE compliance FAQ on the State Bar of California’s official website.

If you need help finding your compliance group, check out the State Bar’s official California MCLE compliance group finder. While there, you can also check your current attorney status in California.

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