California MCLE Compliance Deadline Changes

Remaining informed about changes in Continuing Legal Education (CLE) requirements is crucial for legal professionals to uphold their licenses and remain relevant in the ever-evolving field of law.

The State Bar of California recently made some updates to the MCLE compliance deadlines, along with some fee licensing fee changes and a few adjustments to their New Attorney Training program. These updates come from the California State Bar Website.

California MCLE Compliance Deadline Changes

When?

Effective immediately.

What Changed?

California has updated their compliance cycles to end on March 29th of each year, beginning this upcoming March 2025.

There will still be 3 compliance groups: 

• Group 1: (Last Names A-G)
  
  • Group 1, who would have ended their cycle on January 31, 2025, will now have until March 29, 2025, to complete their MCLE requirements.
• Group 2: (Last Names H-M)  
  
  • Group 2 will have until March 29, 2027, to complete their MCLE requirements.
• Group 3: (Last Names N-Z) 
  
  • Group 3 will have until March 29, 2026, to complete their MCLE requirements.

The above groups are all now in a single 38-month cycle and will then return to the standard 36-month cycle, which for the subsequent compliance cycles will be: 

• Group 1: March 30th, 2025 - March 29th, 2028
• Group 2: March 30th, 2027 - March 29th, 2030
• Group 3: March 30th, 2026 - March 29th, 2029

For more information, please visit our California CLE Requirements page.

Keeping up with these changes is crucial for legal professionals to maintain compliance with their state's CLE requirements. For more information, check out Lawline’s CLE requirements page. Stay informed, stay compliant, and advance your legal career!

California Licensing Fees Changes

• Active License Fee: $598
  
• Inactive License Fee: $205
  
• Inactive attorneys over the age of 70 continue to have their fees waived.

California New Attorney Training Program Changes

Although the California State Bar’s New Attorney Training program is still set up to fulfil 10 credits, the State Bar has updated the programs and credits to:

• 1.75 General
  
• 5.25 Legal Ethics
  
• 1.00 Prevention & Detection Competence
  
• 1.00 Recognition & Elimination of Bias
  
• 1.00 Civility
  

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