New Admittee MCLE Requirements

Fulfill your 15 hour first year requirement FREE with your FREE ONE YEAR CBA MEMBERSHIP! Every Illinois attorney admitted to practice law in Illinois must complete the Illinois Supreme Court's MCLE requirement for newly admitted attorneys within their first year of admission to the Illinois bar. Newly admitted attorneys receive free CBA membership and free CLE that fulfills this requirement. See details and join at www.chicagobar.org/newadmittee.

For attorneys admitted to practice law in Illinois on or after October 1, 2011, there are three elements to the CLE requirements for newly-admitted attorneys:

• A Basic Skills Course of no less than six hours. An attorney may satisfy this requirement by participating in a mentoring program approved by the Illinois Supreme Court's Commission on Professionalism. Click here to watch the archived video of the CBA's 6 hour Basic Skills Course. 
  
• At least nine additional hours of Illinois approved MCLE credit. These nine hours may include any number of hours approved for professional responsibility credit (You cannot start earning these hours until after you are sworn into the bar); and
  
  
• Report compliance with the above requirements to the MCLE Board.

For attorneys admitted to practice after December 31, 2005 and before October 1, 2011 other rules apply. Visit the MCLE Board website for specifics at www.mcleboard.org.

Regardless of admission date, a newly-admitted attorney's initial two-year reporting period for complying with the general MCLE requirements begins after the completion deadline for the newly admitted attorney requirement.

If your last name is A through M, the 2-year reporting begins on the next July 1 of an even numbered year after the completion deadline for the newly admitted attorney requirement. Examples:

• Attorney A admitted to the bar May 2012: Newly admitted attorney course completion deadline is May 31, 2013, and first 2-year reporting period begins July 1, 2014.
  
  
• Attorney B admitted to the bar November 2012: Newly admitted attorney course completion deadline is November 30, 2013, and first 2-year reporting period begins July 1, 2014.
  

If your last name is N through Z, the 2-year reporting begins on the next July 1 of an odd numbered year after the completion deadline for the newly admitted attorney requirement. Examples:

• Attorney Y admitted to the bar May 2012: Newly admitted attorney course completion deadline is May 31, 2013, and first 2-year reporting period begins July 1, 2013.
  
  
• Attorney Z admitted to the bar November 2012: Newly admitted attorney course completion deadline is November 30, 2013, and first 2-year reporting period begins July 1, 2015.
  

To confirm your initial 2-year reporting period, go to the MCLE Board Web site at www.mcleboard.org and click on "Attorneys Report Online."