California MCLE

California MCLE Compliance Frequently Asked Questions

How many hours of MCLE credit do California lawyers need to earn?

California attorneys must earn 25 hours of MCLE credit every three years. 

A California attorneys' MCLE compliance deadline is dictated by the first letter of their last name. (See below.)

What are the specialized categories/requirements for California lawyer MCLE compliance?

The 25 hours of MCLE that California attorneys must earn every three years must include:

• Legal Ethics - 4 hours
• Substance Abuse - 1 hour
• Elimination of Bias - 1 hour

What's the difference between Participatory and Self-Study MCLE credit?

In order to qualify for participatory MCLE credit in California, the provider must be able to verify the attorney's participation and completion of the MCLE exercise and keep appropriate records of such that must be available to the Bar upon request.

The California State Bar MCLE rules require a minimum of 12.5 of an attorney's 25 MCLE hours to be Participatory.

California attorneys can earn all of their MCLE credit online.

• Group 2 (H-M) MCLE Compliance Period: 2/1/2009 - 1/31/2012 
  • MCLE Reporting Deadline 2/1/2012
• Group 1 (A-G) MCLE Compliance Period: 2/1/2010 - 1/31/2013 
  • MCLE Reporting Deadline 2/1/2013
• Group 3 (N-Z) MCLE Compliance Period: 2/1/2011 - 1/31/2014 
  • MCLE Reporting Deadline 2/1/2014

California attorneys are required to report their MCLE compliance by February 1 online via their "My State Bar" profile.

Attorneys can earn up to 22 hours online with Internet For Lawyers' interactive MCLE exercises. Internet For Lawyers' exercises are designed to help Attorneys locate information on the Internet that can be useful to the cases they handle in their practices. Of these MCLE credit hours, 15 hours qualify for Participatory California MCLE credit and 7 qualify for Self-Study California MCLE credit.

For more information on our MCLE exercises and special package prices for multi-hour bundles, see http://www.netforlawyers.com/online_mcle_catalog.htm.

Internet For Lawyers is a California State Bar approved MCLE provider (number 9836).