New Jersey CLE Requirements for Attorneys

An Experienced Attorney is an attorney who has been admitted to practice in New Jersey for more than two years and is no longer considered a Newly Admitted Attorney.

Every active licensee in New Jersey must complete 24 credit hours of CLE courses every two years. At least 12 credits must be completed Live. At least 5 credits must be in Ethics/Professionalism, of which at least 2 must be in Diversity, Inclusion, and Elimination of Bias.

Experienced Attorneys in New Jersey have many course format options for completing this requirement, including:

Alternate Verifiable Learning Format: Maximum 12 credits

• Online Internet computer programs;
• Podcasts;
• Videotape;
• Audiotape;
• Remote place viewing;
• Webinars;
• Satellite simulcasts;
• Teleconferences;
• Videoconferences; and
• Internet computer self-study

Live Instruction:

• Courses in a physical classroom setting, in which the presenter is in the same room as all participants;
• Webcasts
  

NJ Attorneys are able to complete all 24 credits on Lawline by taking 12 credits via Live Webcasts and 12 credits via On Demand programming.

Our entire New Jersey Course Catalog can be found here.

Yes! There are a couple of other ways in which attorneys can earn CLE credit in New Jersey.

• Teaching: Experienced New Jersey Attorneys who teach an approved CLE course earn twice the credit for the amount of time spent teaching or acting as a panelist. If the attorney attends portions of the course in which they are not an instructor or a panelist, then credit will be earned at a one for one basis.
  • Attorneys teaching law to non-lawyers will not receive teaching credit, but attorneys can receive attendance credit for the approved program.
  • Attorneys may only claim teaching credit for the same course once during a compliance period.
  • Note: CLE credit will not be awarded to law school professors and instructors for teaching full- and part-time law students.
• Inns of Court programs: Lawyers participating as masters, barristers or pupils in Inns of Court programs may receive one CLE credit for each hour spent participation if the educational activities that are compliant with the CLE Regulations of New Jersey.

The Compliance Period for experienced NJ attorneys is the 24-month period beginning January 1st of one year and December 31st of the following year. The specific compliance period for each attorney depends on compliance group.

Upon admission to the bar, attorneys are automatically assigned to a compliance group based on their birthdays:

• Compliance Group 1: Attorneys whose birthdays are between January 1st and June 30th. Group 1 is due to complete their credits by 12/31 in odd-numbered years and report their compliance on the Annual Attorney Registration and Billing the following year.
• Compliance Group 2: Attorneys whose birthdays are between July 1st and December 31st. Group 2 is due to complete their credits by 12/31 in even-numbered years and report their compliance on the Annual Attorney Registration and Billing the following year.

The deadline for Experienced Attorneys depends on the Compliance Group to which they are assigned:

• Compliance Group 1 — Due 12/31 in odd years 
• Compliance Group 2 — Due 12/31 in even years

Yes! This is known as reciprocity. Active, Experienced Attorneys in New Jersey may earn 1:1 credit for courses approved as satisfying the CLE requirements of any other jurisdiction.

Experienced Attorneys who live in, practice in, and are licensed in another jurisdiction that allows for 100% of CLE credits to be completed by alternative verifiable learning formats can fulfill their entire NJ CLE requirement with alternative verifiable learning format courses. Those who live in, practice in, and are licensed in another jurisdiction that does not allow for 100% of credits to be completed by alternative verifiable learning formats must still comply with the NJ requirement for live CLE.

Yes! Attorneys in New Jersey may carry forward up to 12 credits earned in excess of the minimum to the following compliance period.

New Jersey attorneys must report their CLE credits on the Annual Attorney Registration and Billing statement in March. 

• Attorneys with birthdays Jan 1st — Jun 30th are due to complete their credits by 12/31 in odd-numbered years and report their compliance on the Annual Attorney Registration and Billing the following year.
• Attorneys with birthdays Jul 1st — Dec 31st are due to complete their credits by 12/31 in even-numbered years and report their compliance on the Annual Attorney Registration and Billing the following year.

At the end of each compliance period, every New Jersey attorney shall certify on their Annual Attorney Registration statement whether or not they have completed their CLE requirements. Attorneys are responsible for keeping and maintaining a record of their own CLE course attendance information for 3 years from the date of attendance, and are subject to audits by the New Jersey CLE Board.