Washington MCLE Requirements
Washington CLE credit hours required: 45 hours per reporting period
Specialty credits required: 6 hours of ethics and professional responsibility and 15 hours of law and legal procedure per reporting period, as of January 1, 2016. See below for effect on compliance groups.
Length of reporting period: 3 years
Compliance date: December 31
Reporting date: February 1
Compliance group: There are 3 compliance groups. Attorneys are assigned to groups in a consecutive manner based upon their year of admission. The 2014-2016 reporting group (the group that needs to complete credits by December 31, 2016 and report by February 1, 2017) is the first group affected by the new MCLE rules that became effective January 1, 2016.
Minutes per credit hour: 60 minutes. To calculate credit for a specific program, divide the total length of the program in minutes by 60 and round up or down to the nearest quarter hour.
Limit on credit hours for recorded programs: Washington no longer has a live credit requirement as of January 1, 2016. Attorneys can earn all credits through approved live programs, recorded products, or other approved methods of earning credit such as writing and teaching. See the Washington State Bar Association website below for additional approved methods and pertinent requirements.
Attendance Reporting Procedure: The ABA reports attendance to the Washington State Board of Continuing Legal Education for live programs (in-person programs, webinars, and teleconferences) within 30 days after the program. The ABA does not report attendance for recorded products.
Washington CLE Requirements (from the American Bar Association website)
