Navigating Florida Bar Continuing Legal Education (CLE) Requirements
Maintaining an active law license in Florida requires attorneys and Florida Registered Paralegals (FRPs) to stay current with legal developments and ethical standards. This is achieved through Continuing Legal Education (CLE) requirements mandated by The Florida Bar. This article provides a comprehensive overview of these requirements, including recent changes and essential information for compliance.
Core CLE Requirements for Florida Attorneys
Florida attorneys are assigned individual compliance and reporting deadlines upon admission to the Bar. Upon your admission to The Florida Bar, a reporting period will be assigned to you. The reporting period is 3 years. Each Florida attorney is assigned a 3 year compliance period that ends on the last day of their designated month. To remain in good standing, attorneys must complete a minimum of 30 CLE credit hours every three years. Florida is a self-reporting jurisdiction, and failure to self-report CLE compliance by your deadline may result in delinquent status, late fees, and eventual administrative suspension from The Florida Bar.
The 30-hour requirement is broken down into specific areas of focus:
- General CLE: 22 hours.
- Technology CLE: At least 3 hours in technology, covering topics such as data privacy, eDiscovery, legal software, AI in law, cybersecurity, and law office tech tools.
- Legal Ethics, Professionalism, Substance Abuse, or Mental Health and Wellness Programs: At least 5 hours. As part of the 5 credit hours in Legal Ethics during each reporting cycle, attorneys must complete the 2-credit Florida Legal Professionalism course produced by The Florida Bar and approved by the Supreme Court of Florida. Attorneys must now also take a new 2 credit Professionalism course provided directly by the Florida Bar at no extra charge. This two-hour course, which the Bar will offer free of charge, replaces the existing one-hour professionalism program requirement. Click here to take the mandatory Legal Professionalism course.
CLE Requirements for Florida Registered Paralegals (FRPs)
Florida Registered Paralegals (FRP’s) must complete a minimum of 30 hours of CLE every three years to maintain their status. Of the 30 hours, 5 hours must be in ethics or professionalism and three 3 hours must be in technology. Each Florida attorney and FRP is assigned a 3 year compliance period that ends on the last day of their designated month.
Young Lawyers Division (YLD) Basic Skills Course Requirement (BSCR)
All Florida Bar members in good standing under the age of 36 and all members in good standing who have not been admitted to the practice of law in any jurisdiction for more than 5 years is a member of the Young Lawyers Division (Rule 1.9.1 of the Rules Regulating The Florida Bar). All members of the Young Lawyers Division of The Florida Bar (YLD) must complete the Basic Skills Course Requirement (BSCR). There two phases to the BSCR (Rule 6-12.3).
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- Phase I: Completion of a Practice with Professionalism course sponsored by the YLD.
- Phase II: Completion of 3 elective, basic, substantive CLE programs sponsored by the YLD. Completion of 3 basic level programs (or 21 hours of basic level programming) within the first three years of admission to The Florida Bar. Basic level courses that satisfy the BSCR requirement will begin with the term “Basic” in its title (i.e. admission to The Florida Bar).
Methods of Earning CLE Credits
Experienced attorneys can fulfill their Florida CLE requirement by completing courses approved and accredited by The Florida Bar. Our courses are available in a variety of formats. CDs are a great option for the attorney on the go. Florida attorneys can complete all 30 CLE Credit hours including 5 hours of professional responsibility and 3 hours of technology with our DVDs, Audio CDs, USB Stick, Online, and iOS/Android App courses. Currently, the Florida Bar only offers online access to the 2 hour mandated professionalism course which we make accessible within your online account. Preapproved courses offered by the National Academy of Continuing Legal Education have been directly approved by The Florida Bar and come with unique Florida Bar course codes which enables easy and quick reporting. “Self-Report” courses come with prefilled forms for easy self-reporting to the FL Bar. Access our content from the web, mobile devices, and even iPads. TRTCLE is an accredited Florida CLE provider.
Florida attorneys can also earn CLE credits through alternative methods such as:
- Teaching approved CLE programs.
- Publishing legal articles or books.
- Serving on qualifying panels.
Important Considerations
- Self-Reporting: Florida is a self-reporting jurisdiction. Florida attorneys are responsible for tracking and reporting their own CLE credits.
- Carryover: Florida CLE rules do not allow carryover. If an attorney completes more than 30 credit hours during any reporting cycle, the excess credits cannot be carried over to the next reporting cycle.
- Exemptions and Extensions: Attorneys may apply for CLE exemptions or extensions due to hardship, illness, military service, or other special circumstances.
- Course Approval: Ensure that the CLE courses you take are approved and accredited by The Florida Bar.
- Flexibility in Format: Florida places no cap on the number of credits you can earn through OnDemand or self-study formats.
Recent Amendments and Updates
The Florida Bar amended the rules for FRPs on February 29, 2024. New Supreme Court Amendment No. SC2024-0030: Anyone can now apply to become a Florida Registered Paralegal via an attestation of paralegal work experience from an employing or supervising attorney. Each applicant must complete 30 hours of CLE including 10 hours of ethics/professionalism, and 3 hours of technology. Effective July 8, 2024, a person can apply to become a Florida Registered Paralegal via an attestation of paralegal work experience from an employing or supervising attorney. Each applicant must complete 30 hours of continuing education including 10 hours of ethics/professionalism, and 3 hours of technology.
Recent changes to CLE requirements include:
- Reduce the overall CLE requirement for attorneys from 33 to 30 hours per reporting cycle.
- Require Bar members to complete a two-hour legal professionalism course produced by The Florida Bar and approved by this Court during each reporting cycle. This two-hour course, which the Bar will offer free of charge.
- Remove “bias elimination” from the requirement that “[a]t least 5 of the 30 credit hours must be in approved legal ethics, professionalism, substance abuse, or mental health and wellness programs.” Courses in “bias elimination” that meet The Florida Bar’s general course approval requirements will continue to count toward fulfilling Bar members’ overall 30-hour CLE requirement, but such courses will no longer count toward fulfillment of the five-hour sub-requirement specified in the rule.
Resources
For more information, you can contact The Florida Bar at:
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