Navigating Tennessee Continuing Legal Education (CLE) Requirements

Maintaining an active law license in Tennessee requires adherence to the rules set forth by the Tennessee Commission on Continuing Legal Education. These rules are designed to ensure that attorneys remain current on legal developments, ethical obligations, and best practices. This article provides a comprehensive overview of Tennessee's CLE requirements, reporting procedures, and available resources.

Is CLE Mandatory in Tennessee?

Yes, Tennessee mandates that all attorneys complete Continuing Legal Education (CLE) to maintain their law license.

CLE Credit Requirements

Tennessee attorneys are required to complete 15 hours of CLE credits annually. This includes:

12 General CLE Credits: These credits can be earned through courses covering a wide range of legal topics relevant to an attorney's practice.
3 Ethics/Professionalism Credits: These credits must focus on legal ethics, professional responsibility, or topics related to professionalism within the legal field. These can also be fulfilled by "Dual" credits. Hours will be reflected as Dual until the end of the compliance year when our system will first apply Dual credit hours toward the three hour Ethics requirement. Any remaining Dual credit hours will go toward the twelve (12) hours General requirement.

Compliance Period

The CLE compliance year in Tennessee runs from January 1st through December 31st. Attorneys must complete their 15 required CLE credits by December 31st each year.

Reporting Deadline

Attorneys must certify their compliance with CLE requirements by March 31st of the following year.

Read also: Your Guide to ETSU Academics

Methods for Completing CLE Credits

Tennessee attorneys have various options for completing their CLE requirements:

Live Courses: Traditionally, a portion of CLE credits had to be earned through live, interactive courses.
On-Demand Courses: These are pre-recorded courses that can be accessed online at the attorney's convenience.
Live Webcasts: These are live, online presentations that allow attorneys to participate remotely.
CDs: Some courses are available on CDs, providing another option for attorneys to complete their CLE requirements.

Important Update: The Tennessee Supreme Court amended Rule 21, which governs CLE requirements, to permanently remove limitations on distance-learning CLE credits. This order, filed and effective on November 1, 2022, allows attorneys to complete all 15 required credits through online or other distance-learning methods.

How to Report CLE Credits

SproutEd and TBA reports your attendance and credit to the Tennessee Commission on Continuing Legal Education within 30 days of course completion.

By February 28th the Commission sends all attorneys an Annual Report Statement showing their compliance transcript from the previous period. Attorneys must complete and return the statement by March 31st.

CLE Credit Carryover

Tennessee attorneys can carry over up to 15 CLE credits to the following compliance year. This includes a maximum of 3 Ethics credits.

Consequences of Non-Compliance

Failure to meet CLE obligations by December 31st can result in penalties. The Tennessee Commission on Continuing Legal Education will send a notice of noncompliance, requiring the attorney to rectify the situation. A $100 non-completion fee will be charged. If compliance is not achieved by May 31st, the attorney's name will be added to a suspension order submitted to the state supreme court. By August 10th, attorneys on the suspension order must file an affidavit of compliance or provide a valid exemption reason.

Resources for Tennessee Attorneys

Tennessee Bar Association (TBA): The TBA is a major provider of CLE programs in Tennessee. They offer live and virtual courses covering various practice areas, ethics, and professional development. The TBA also files credits for courses in Georgia, Mississippi, and Alabama.
SproutEd: Offers flexible options to take as many courses as you need throughout the year at a fixed price. SproutEd reports your credits for you.
Marino CLE: Marino plans to offer Continuing Legal Education courses for Tennessee so that you can get your CLE hours quickly and conveniently from wherever you are.

Additional Information

The Tennessee Commission on Continuing Legal Education is the accrediting agency for CLE courses in the state.
Attorneys must certify course completion for credits to be filed.
The TBA typically files completed classes within 30 days of completion.
Attorneys should ensure their contact information is up-to-date with the Board of Professional Responsibility to ensure accurate CLE reporting.
Attorneys seeking reinstatement in 2021 are also covered by the order.
In addition attorneys will be able to carry forward a maximum of 15 hours of online CLE from 2020 toward their 2021 CLE requirement.
This order is in effect through December 31, 2021.
Providers have thirty (30) days to notify us of course completion.
If the course still has not posted after forty-five (45) days contact the provider.
See Rule 21, Section 8.02. All providers do not report attendance.
Under Supreme Court Rule 9, you must update your contact information with the Board of Professional Responsibility ("BPR") within thirty (30) days of any change in your contact information.

Technical Assistance

The TBA provides technical assistance for accessing online courses and materials:

Materials for on-demand courses can be accessed within the course video.
For video playback issues, ensure that Windows Media Player is using HTTP Streaming (for Windows users).
Consider using a different browser or computer if experiencing persistent issues.
Firewall settings may need to be adjusted to allow access to the Mediasite server.
Some versions of Chrome on Mac computers may not support live webcasts; Firefox or Safari can be used as alternatives.

Special Situations

Newly Admitted Attorneys

Newly admitted attorneys in Tennessee are generally subject to CLE reporting requirements upon admission to the Tennessee Bar.

You will receive 1 year of CLE credit for passing the bar exam.

If you are admitted before September 1, that CLE credit will be applied to the current year.

Read also: Remembrance and Progress

Your first reporting period ends on December 31. If you are admitted to the bar on or after September 1, you will not be required to report CLE credit until December 31 of the following year.

You may earn up to 12.00 general CLE credits by passing the Uniform Bar Exam or the bar exam of any state. One (1) year of CLE credit may be awarded for completing a bar review course. An attorney shall not receive bar review credit and bar exam credit in the same compliance year.

CLE Rule Update

The Tennessee Supreme Court has amended the Rule for Mandatory Continuing Legal Education to permanently remove limitations on distance-learning continuing legal education (“CLE”) credits. The Order was filed and effective on November 1, 2022.

Prepaid Credits

When you add a course to your cart, a prepaid credit box will pop up that allows you to enter the number of credits you want to use for the course. If the box does not pop up, or you accidentally close out of it before adding your credits, you can also apply your credits from your cart; click on the pencil icon to the far left of the page, which will take you back to the prepaid credit box.

Course ID

I need the course ID for my Affidavit of Compliance. When searching, enter your keywords and be sure to click the “Contains All” button and select TBA as the provider to ensure your search returns the correct results.

Mobile Devices

Virtually all the online video courses are available for mobile devices. Most of our Live Webcasts will be available on your iPhone or iPad (You may need to download the Mediasite app from the app store to play them).

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