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California attorneys must complete a minimum of 25 credit hours of approved continuing legal education activities every 3 years including at least 4 hours of Ethics, 1 hour of Substance Abuse Prevention and 2 hours of Elimination of Bias. Additionally, at least one of the hours in Elimination of Bias must be an approved Implicit Bias program.
At least 12.5 of the credit hours must be in a "Participatory" format. The remaining hours can be in a self-study format.
**The State Bar of California is implementing changes to the MCLE course requirements effective October 1, 2023. Beginning with the compliance period ending March 29, 2025, licensees will be required to also complete and report compliance on the following new subfields:
Technology in the Practice of Law (one credit)
Civility in the Legal Profession (one credit)
Competence (Increased from one credit to two)
California attorneys may earn all 25 hours with the National Academy of Continuing Legal Education. Our Online and iOS/Android App platforms are automatically deemed participatory and our Audio CDs, DVDs, USB Stick, and MP3/MP4 downloaded courses may also be taken in participatory form as well.
California MCLE rules do not allow carryover. Credit for participating in a CLE activity may not be earned forward from one compliance period to another.
Members are required to comply online under “My State Bar Profile” www.calbar.ca.gov by attesting under penalty of perjury that the member has complied with the education requirement or is exempt and the nature of the exemption. Attorneys who are unable to comply online must contact the State Bar’s Member Services Center 888-800-3400.
State Bar of California
180 Howard Street
San Francisco, CA 94105-1639
(t) 415-538-2100
(f) 415-538-2180 mcle.calbar.ca.gov
Ethical Pitfalls Relating to Solo and Small Firm Practitioners
MCLE Courses Available on DVDs, Audio CDs, USB Stick, Online & iOS/Android App!
Ethics Credits
1.75
$100
About This Course
Solo practitioners and small firms face ethical perils unique to their practices. Medium and large firm practitioners who intend to start a new law firm will face many of the same ethical problems. However, most ethical dilemmas can be avoided by simple risk management techniques and a basic understanding of common pitfalls that arise in these types of practices.
The goal of the program is to help attendees avoid disciplinary complaints and legal malpractice claims by recognizing ethical issues before they ripen into an ethical dilemma and applying common sense approaches to problems that could not be avoided. There will be a discussion of problems that arise in every day practice.
