To stay in good standing, the California Bar’s CLE requirements call for 25 hours of approved continuing legal education every three years, with 10 of those hours devoted to specific specialty subjects and at least half of the total earned through participatory (not self-study) activities. You track your own hours, and you report compliance to the State Bar at the end of your cycle.
The 25-Hour Cycle and Your Reporting Deadline
The State Bar sorts active licensees into three compliance groups based on the first letter of the last name they were admitted under. Each group runs on its own three-year cycle with a March 30 reporting deadline:1State Bar of California. Compliance Groups
- Group 1 (A–G): compliance period March 30, 2025 through March 29, 2028; report by March 30, 2028.
- Group 2 (H–M): compliance period ends March 29, 2027; report by March 30, 2027.
- Group 3 (N–Z): compliance period ends March 29, 2026; report by March 30, 2026.
Groups 2 and 3 are currently finishing one-time extended 38-month cycles. Once those wrap, every group returns to a standard 36-month cycle beginning March 30 of the group’s reporting year. The State Bar does not track hours for you; you log your own credits and hold onto your certificates.
The 10 Specialty Hours Inside the 25
Ten of the 25 hours must cover designated specialty subjects. These are carved out of the 25, not added to it. For the compliance period ending March 29, 2026, the required subjects are:2State Bar of California. MCLE Requirements
- Legal ethics: at least 4 hours.
- Elimination of bias: at least 2 hours, with 1 hour specifically on implicit bias and strategies for reducing bias based on race, ethnicity, gender identity, sexual orientation, or socioeconomic status.
- Competence: at least 2 hours, with 1 hour on prevention and detection of substance abuse or mental health issues that impair the ability to practice.
- Technology in legal practice: at least 1 hour.
- Civility in the legal profession: at least 1 hour.
The other 15 hours can cover any approved legal education topic, including California law, federal law relevant to California practice, or tribal law.
Participatory Versus Self-Study
At least 12.5 of your 25 hours must be participatory, meaning the provider verifies your attendance. Live in-person seminars, live webcasts with interactive features, and teaching a CLE course all count as participatory.2State Bar of California. MCLE Requirements
The remaining 12.5 hours can be self-study: recorded lectures, self-assessment tests, and legal research without a live interactive component. An online course qualifies as participatory only when the provider uses technology to monitor and verify active engagement throughout. If you’re not sure how a course is classified, check the provider’s accreditation listing before you enroll.
Out-of-State and Online Programs
Programs held or approved outside California can count toward your California requirement if three conditions are met: you are physically outside California when you participate, the activity is the type that would qualify for California MCLE credit, and the activity is approved by one of California’s approved jurisdictions.3State Bar of California. Approved Jurisdictions
The physical-location piece trips people up. A webinar hosted by a New York provider that you watch from your office in Los Angeles does not qualify under this rule, because you are inside California. In that situation, the program itself must be independently approved for California MCLE credit. The approving jurisdiction doesn’t have to be where the program is held; a Washington, D.C. seminar approved by New York works as long as you attend from outside California. Credit transfers one-to-one with the approving jurisdiction, ethics for ethics and so on.
Who Is Exempt
A few categories of active licensees are exempt from MCLE, but the exemption is not automatic. You must claim it through your My State Bar Profile each compliance period. Exempt categories are:4State Bar of California. Attorney Exemptions
- Elected officials and officers of the State of California.
- Full-time law professors at schools accredited by the State Bar or the ABA.
- Full-time California state government employees, permanent or probationary, who do not otherwise practice law.
- Full-time federal government employees, permanent or probationary, who do not otherwise practice law.
Attorneys on voluntary inactive status are outside the requirement altogether, since MCLE applies only to active licensees. Switching from inactive to active mid-cycle triggers a proportionally reduced number of hours for the remainder of that period.
New Attorneys Have a Separate Obligation
Newly admitted attorneys must complete the 10-hour New Attorney Training program by the last day of the month marking one year since admission. An attorney admitted on June 15, 2025 has until June 30, 2026.5State Bar of California. New Attorney Training Program Those hours count toward the first compliance period’s total, and new attorneys receive a proportional reduction in the 25-hour requirement for that first cycle based on how many full months they were active before their group’s deadline. After the first period, new attorneys join the standard three-year cycle with everyone else in their group.
Reporting, Audits, and What Happens If You Miss the Deadline
At the end of your cycle, you submit a compliance statement through the My State Bar Profile portal declaring that you’ve completed all 25 hours, including the specialty subjects. Keep your certificates and attendance records for at least one year after reporting in case of an audit.6State Bar of California. Keeping Your MCLE Records
Miss the deadline and you owe a $106 late fee.7State Bar of California. Minimum Continuing Legal Education The State Bar then issues a notice of noncompliance. If you don’t satisfy the terms of that notice, you are involuntarily enrolled as inactive and lose the right to practice law. No hearing is required; it is an administrative action.8State Bar of California. Rules of the State Bar, Title 2 Division 4 – MCLE That inactive enrollment is public on the State Bar’s website, visible to clients, opposing counsel, and employers.
Reinstatement requires proof that you’ve completed the overdue hours plus a $318 reinstatement fee.9State Bar of California. Appendix A – Schedule of Charges and Deadlines Excess hours beyond what you owed for the prior period can roll forward into the current cycle. Practicing while involuntarily inactive is unauthorized practice of law, so the real cost of falling behind is much higher than the posted fees.