Office of Attorney Regulation Counsel
An Independent Office of the Colorado Supreme Court
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As society becomes more complex, the delivery of legal services likewise becomes more complex. The public expects that lawyers and LLPs, in their practice of law, and judges, in the performance of their duties, will continue their legal and judicial education throughout their legal career. The purpose of mandatory continuing legal education requirements is to ensure that every lawyer, LLP and judge in Colorado pursues a plan of continuing legal education and professional development throughout their career in order to promote competence and professionalism and to remain current on the law in our rapidly changing society.
The Office of Attorney Regulation Counsel has authority to ensure that every Colorado lawyer and LLP is complying with their CLE requirements as set forth under C.R.C.P. 250, et seq. The Office of Continuing Legal and Judicial Education is responsible for maintaining the records for each Colorado lawyer’s and LLP’s claimed CLE credits. The Supreme Court Continuing Legal and Judicial Education Committee formulates regulations and performs specific duties designated in the CLJE Rules.
Attorneys– the Mandatory Continuing Legal Education (MCLE) requirement for all actively licensed Colorado lawyers (under the age of 72) is 45 credit hours of CLE, of which seven must be professional responsibility. C.R.C.P. 250.2(1). Of the seven credit hours devoted to professional responsibility must include the following: At least two credit hours in the area of equity, diversity, and inclusivity, and at least five credit hours in the areas of legal ethics or legal professionalism.
LLPs– the Mandatory Continuing Legal Education (MCLE) requirement for all actively licensed Colorado LLPs (under the age of 72) is 30 credit hours of CLE, of which 5 must be professional responsibility. C.R.C.P. 250.2(2). The five credit hours devoted to professional responsibility must include the following: At least one credit hour in the area of equity, diversity, and inclusivity, and at least four credit hours in the areas of legal ethics or legal professionalism.
Your MCLE obligation begins on the date of your admission or certification to the bar of the State of Colorado. The first compliance period begins on the date of admission or certification and ends on the 31st of December of the third full calendar year following the year of admission or certification to practice law in Colorado. For non-lawyer judges, the first CLE compliance period begins on the date of appointment as a judge and ends on the 31st of December of the third full calendar year following the year of appointment as a judge.
Subsequent MCLE compliance periods begin on the 1st of January immediately following a previous compliance period and end on the 31st of December of the third full calendar year thereafter.
For example, if you are admitted to Colorado on May 10, 2019, your first compliance period runs from May 10, 2019 to December 31, 2022 – assuming you were on active status during that entire time. Your subsequent compliance period would run from January 1, 2023 to December 31, 2025 – assuming you were on active status during that entire time.
You must complete all CLE activities by December 31 of the final year in your compliance period, but you have until January 31 of the following month to report compliance. In the above example, you would need to complete your CLE activities by December 31, 2022, but you would have until January 31, 2023 to report the activities to our Office. We encourage you to report your CLE activities at the time of completion, in order to avoid late fees and penalties for reporting late compliance.
Attorneys are required to complete 45 CLE hours, of which seven must be devoted to professional responsibility. The seven hours devoted to professional responsibility must include the following: At least two credit hours in the area of equity, diversity, and inclusivity, and at least five credit hours in the areas of legal ethics or legal professionalism.
LLPs are required to complete 30 CLE hours, of which five must be devoted to professional responsibility. The five hours devoted to professional responsibility must include the following: At least one credit hour in the area of equity, diversity, and inclusivity, and at least four credit hours in the areas of legal ethics or legal professionalism.
Colorado is a self-reporting state. Most lawyers and LLPs complete their MCLE requirements by attending live CLE programs or on-demand pre-recorded programs that have been accredited by our Office. If you attend a CLE program or complete an on-demand CLE program, the sponsor of that program WILL NOT report your attendance or the completion of an on-demand program to our Office. You must certify and submit notice of your attendance to a CLE program or completion of an on-demand program to your online transcript at cletrack.coloradosupremecourt.com. The easiest way to report your attendance at a program or completion of an on-demand program is to have the Colorado Program ID before you begin entry. All providers should be able to give you the program ID issued by our Office when the program was accredited.
Only programs that have been accredited by our Office can be entered online directly to your transcript. To report an activity to our Office other than attending a Colorado-accredited live program or homestudy/on-demand program, you will need to complete and submit the appropriate form to our Office for review and processing. Click here for Forms. Click here for FAQs on other activities for which you may earn CLE credit.
When entering your credit hours on your online CLE Transcript, remember that ‘general’ credits comprise the total number of hours for which a program has been accredited. If a program has also been granted credit for professional responsibility (legal ethics, legal professionalism, and/or equity, diversity and inclusivity), do not subtract those credits from the ‘general’ category. For instance, if a program has been accredited for 6 general credits, of which 4 legal ethics credits have been granted – if you attended 100% of the program you will enter 6 in the general credits box and 4 in the legal ethics box. DO not subtract from these categories unless you did not attend the full course. One CLE credit hour equals 50 minutes of instruction.
You should keep a record of all accredited courses you attend or complete, as well as other activities that you have submitted to our Office for approval for CLE credit. To determine which courses have received accreditation, consult the list of accredited courses. You may also view a copy of your current transcript by using the online affidavit system.
You will not be able to register for any of the CLE programs on our website. You will need to contact the CLE program provider to register for any programs you are in completing.
Lawyers admitted by On Motion, UBE Score Transfer, or as a Single Client, Judge Advocate, Military Spouse, or Law Professor must complete the required professionalism course within six months of their admission. Failure to comply with this requirement may result is an administration suspension of your Colorado law license.
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