CLE credit tracker

Enter your own state's requirement. CLE totals, ethics minimums, reporting cycle length, and deadlines vary significantly by state, and 5 jurisdictions (DC, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, and South Dakota) currently have no mandatory CLE at all. Confirm your specific requirement with your state bar. See our full disclaimer.

Set up your requirement

Total credits required for your cycle

Ethics/professionalism credits required

Reporting deadline for this cycle

Your CLE progress

Behind on your CLE requirement?

A CLE provider can help you find accredited courses that fit your remaining credits, including any specific category gaps like ethics or technology.

How much does CLE actually vary by state?

Substantially. Most jurisdictions require somewhere between 10 and 15 credit hours annually, or the equivalent spread over a 2 or 3 year reporting cycle, but the range runs from as few as 3 hours a year in some states to 45 credits over a 3 year cycle in others. Within that total, nearly every state carves out a specific ethics or professionalism minimum, commonly 1 to 5 credit hours per cycle, and some states add further category requirements like technology, diversity, or substance abuse and mental health awareness.

5 jurisdictions, the District of Columbia, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, and South Dakota, currently have no mandatory CLE requirement at all, though many attorneys in those states still pursue continuing education voluntarily. Because requirements differ so much, this tracker asks for your specific state's numbers rather than assuming a default, so confirm your exact requirement with your state bar before relying on this tracker for compliance purposes. Once you're caught up, our case deadline calendar can help track your next reporting deadline alongside other case deadlines, and our legal time tracker keeps CLE hours separate from billable client work.

What happens if an attorney misses their CLE deadline?

Consequences vary by state but commonly start with a delinquency notice and a grace period to make up the shortfall, sometimes with a late fee attached. Continued non-compliance can escalate to administrative suspension of the attorney's license to practice, which is a serious consequence that typically requires a formal reinstatement process to resolve, not just completing the missing credits. Our court filing deadline calculator can help confirm any grace period deadline once a delinquency notice is issued.

Do all CLE courses count the same toward the total requirement?

Only if they come from an accredited provider recognized by the relevant state bar or supreme court authority. Courses from unaccredited sources, even if the content is genuinely useful, generally don't count toward the mandatory total. Some states also cap how many credits can come from certain formats, such as self-study or recorded on-demand courses, so check format-specific limits in addition to the overall total.

How is a CLE credit hour actually measured?

Most states calculate CLE credit by dividing a program's actual running time by either a 50 minute or 60 minute standard, meaning the same 90 minute program can yield different credit amounts in different states. A handful of states use the 50 minute credit hour standard, so always confirm which measurement your specific jurisdiction uses when calculating how much credit a given course will actually provide.

Frequently asked questions about CLE requirements

Often yes for attorneys licensed in multiple states, since many jurisdictions accept CLE credit approved by other state bars through reciprocity agreements, though this isn't universal. Attorneys licensed in more than 1 state should confirm each state's specific policy on accepting out-of-state or reciprocal credit rather than assuming automatic transfer.

In many states, yes. Some jurisdictions require newly admitted attorneys to complete additional credits in their first reporting period or two, often with a specific emphasis on skills, ethics, and law practice management, before transitioning to the standard experienced-attorney requirement.

Yes, in most jurisdictions, attorneys who develop and teach an accredited CLE course can typically earn credit for that preparation and presentation time, often at an enhanced multiple of the actual teaching time. Specific rules on how much credit teaching earns vary by state.

Generally it counts, but many states cap the number of credits that can come from self-study or recorded formats, requiring a minimum portion of the total to come from live or interactive instruction. Check your specific state's format rules, since exceeding a self-study cap can mean some completed courses don't actually count toward your total.

Yes, a growing number of states have added dedicated technology or cybersecurity credit requirements in recent years, reflecting increased attention to attorney technology competence. If your state has this requirement, general CLE hours in unrelated categories won't satisfy it, so confirm whether a technology-specific minimum applies to you.