New Jersey CLE Requirements

24 credit hours every two years

12 hours must be taken live
12 may be completed online

19 General hours
At least 5 Ethics/Professionalism hours, including 2 hours of Diversity, Inclusion, and Elimination of Bias.

December 31

December 31

COMPLIANCE PERIOD RULE:
Compliance Group 1: Attorneys born in January through June report in even-numbered years.

Compliance Group 2: Attorneys born in July through December report in odd-numbered years.

New Jersey attorneys certify compliance on the Annual Attorney Registration and Billing Statement. They must maintain possession of their Certificates of Attendance for at least 3 years as they will be asked to produce those records in the event of an audit.

New Jersey is a self-reporting state; therefore, attorneys must maintain all necessary records and documentation to demonstrate compliance in accordance with the Board’s Regulations. Random audits of individual attorneys will be performed to ensure the overall compliance of attorneys. If randomly audited, an attorney will be required to submit all certificates of course attendance obtained during a compliance period as proof of compliance with the CLE requirement.

For reporting compliance, an attorney whose birthday is between January 1 and June 30 is in Compliance Group 1. An attorney whose birthday is between July 1 and December 31 is in Compliance Group 2. Those in Group 1 will report the completion of the required credits taken during the compliance period in the annual attorney registration and billing process in even-numbered years; for example, an attorney born in February would report compliance in 2014, 2016, 2018, etc. Those in Compliance Group 2 will report compliance in odd-numbered years in the annual attorney registration and billing process; for example, an attorney born in July would report compliance in 2015, 2017, 2019, etc. Attorneys are encouraged to register and report CLE compliance online, rather than through the paper billing process.

Every active lawyer is required to complete 24 credit hours of continuing legal education (CLE) every 2 years. Of those 24 credits, at least 5 credits must be in ethics and/or professionalism, including 2 credits of coursework in diversity, inclusion, and elimination of bias.

During the newly admitted lawyer’s first full two-year compliance period, within the general 24 credit CLE requirement, a newly admitted lawyer with a plenary license in New Jersey must obtain 16 credit hours in at least 6 of the following 12 subject areas: New Jersey basic estate administration; New Jersey basic estate planning; New Jersey civil or criminal trial preparation; New Jersey family law practice; New Jersey real estate closing procedures; New Jersey attorney trust and business accounting fundamentals; New Jersey landlord/tenant practice; New Jersey municipal court practice; New Jersey law office management; New Jersey administrative law; New Jersey workers’ compensation law; and New Jersey labor and employment law. At least one credit of the required sixteen credits must be in New Jersey attorney trust and business accounting fundamentals.

A “newly admitted lawyer” is defined by the Board on Continuing Legal Education (Board) as a lawyer who becomes an active member of the New Jersey bar for the first time. Newly admitted attorneys with a limited license do not have to take the 16-credit new admit coursework. Some newly admitted attorneys, depending on when admitted and when their birth month falls may have a one-year transitional reporting period.

CLE Reporting Requirements for Attorneys Admitted in 2023

CLE Reporting Requirements for Attorneys Admitted in 2024

• Supreme Court of New Jersey
  Board on Continuing Legal Education
  P.O. Box 965
  Trenton, NJ 08625-0965
• (T) (609) 633-9733
• [email protected]
  www.judiciary.state.nj.us