All active lawyers must complete 24 hours of CLE over a two-year cycle. Five of the 24 credits must be in ethics or professionalism; two of those five credits must be in diversity, inclusions, and elimination of bias.
CLE Reporting Requirements for Newly Admitted Attorneys
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 2024
CLE Reporting Requirements for Attorneys Admitted in 2025