Notice and Order - Amendments to the Regulations of the Board on Continuing Legal Education Approved by the Supreme Court (effective January 1, 2024)

AMENDMENTS TO THE REGULATIONS OF THE BOARD ON CONTINUING LEGAL EDUCATION APPROVED BY THE SUPREME COURT

Pursuant to Rule 1 :43-2(b )( 4 ), published with this notice are amendments to the Regulations of the Board on Continuing Legal Education ("Board") as recommended by the Board and approved by the Supreme Court to be effective January 1, 2024. The Court's October 1 7, 2023 order and the amendments to the regulations are
attached. The amendments are summarized as follows:
 

BCLE Reg. 102 :3 - expectation of good faith
attendance and participation in both live and
alternative verifiable learning format courses.

BCLE Reg. 103:l(a) - clarifying that an active
attorney must meet the CLE requirement,
whether or not practicing New Jersey law.

BCLE Reg. 103: 1 (b) - additional technologies
qualifying as alternative verifiable learning
formats.

BCLE Reg. 103: 1 ( c) - clarifying that a course
credit(s) relied on through reciprocity does not in
turn make that course an approved New Jersey
course and those courses do not appear in the
course catalog.

BCLE Reg. 103: 1 (i) - additional definition of
continuing legal education.

BCLE Reg. 103: 1 U) - allowing for a minimum of
½ of one credit for a course.

BCLE Reg. 103: 1 (1) - clarifying the definition of
inactive attorney.

BCLE Reg. 103: 1 (n) - live instruction is further
defined to include instruction through live
classroom instruction and simultaneously
broadcasting through an alternative verifiable
learning format where, the off-site attendees can
interact with the instructor during the presentation
of the course and a defined period or format is
allocated for questions, comments, or group
discussion.

BCLE Reg. 103: 1 (r) - courses on substantive law
topics generally do not qualify as courses on
professionalism, except as otherwise provided.

BCLE Reg. 103 :2 - documents filed shall be on
. forms or applications provided by the Board and
accessed on the webpage on the Judiciary' s
website.

BCLE Reg. 201 :2 ~ three additional New Jersey
new admit subject areas: New Jersey
administrative law, New Jersey labor and
employment law, and New Jersey worker's
compensation law. The overall requirement is
increased to 16 total credits in a minimum of 6
New Jersey new admit law subjects. In addition,
all newly admitted attorneys must tak~ at least 1
credit in New Jersey attorney trust and business
accounting fundamentals. General courses in
trusts, estates, business law, and accounting not
related to a New Jersey attorney's ethical
obligations regarding attorney trust and business
accounts do not meet the requirement of this
newly admitted attorney subject area.
Newly admitted attorneys with a plenary license
who must report compliance with the New Jersey
newly admitted attorney requirement in any
reporting period occurring after the 2024
compliance reporting period are required to obtain
at least one credit in New Jersey attorney trust and
business accounting fundamentals.

BCLE Reg. 201 :3 - clarifying the definition of
credit carryover.

BCLE Reg. 201 :4 - through reciprocity, the
amount of credit available is the credit amount
awarded in the other mandatory CLE jurisdiction
and cannot be converted into New Jersey's 50-
minute credit calculation. In addition, diversity,
inclusion, and elimination of bias (DIEB) credits
are only available through reciprocity if the other
mandatory jurisdiction providing this coursework
also mandates that its licensed attorneys take·
DIEB course credit.

BCLE Reg. 201 :6 - credits for Joint Unified
Mentor Program participation.

BCLE Reg. 201: 8 - "housekeeping" clarification.

BCLE Reg. 202: 1 - "housekeeping" clarification.

BCLE Reg. 202:2 - procedure for obtaining a
waiver of CLE or of live classroom instruction.

BCLE Reg. 301:l(b) - additional language related
to the diversity, inclusion, and elimination of bias
requirement.

BCLE Reg. 301:l(d) - language regarding
technology to view written materials.

BCLE Reg. 301 :4 - law school and degree
programs do not qualify as CLE.

BCLE Regs. 301:8 and 301:9 - certificates of
attendance and proof of attendance for live·
instruction and alternative verifiable learning
formats.

BCLE Regs. 301: 12 and 301: 13 - procedural and
documentary requirements for per-course and
individual attorney course accreditation
applications.

BCLE Regs. 302:1, 302:3, 302:4, 302:5, 302:9,
and 3 02: 10 - documentary and procedural
requirements for approved service providers
regarding provider approval, expiration of
approval, course expiration, proof of attendance,
and course approval notice to attendees.

BCLE Reg. 401: 1 - maintaining certificates of
attendance for at least three years.

BCLE Regs. 401 :2 and 401 :4 - "housekeeping"
change to denote proper designation of the
attorney registration and billing statement.

BCLE Reg. 401 :5 - deleted.

BCLE Regs. 402: 1 to 402:4 - clarifying language
related to attorney noncompliance, the grace
period, reporting compliance after the expiration
of the grace period, and reinstatement from the
CLE Ineligible list.

 

Please contact Wendy L. Weiss, Counsel to the Board on Continuing Legal Education, or Board staff with any questions about these amendments at Sctcle.Mailbox@njcourts.gov.