Florida attorneys – CLE update

2024 Updated Florida Bar MCLE Requirements

The Florida Bar requires attorneys to complete 30 hours per reporting cycle, including at least 5 credits in legal ethics, professionalism , substance abuse , or mental illness awareness, with at least 2 hours of a legal professionalism course produced by The Florida Bar. Three of the 30 credit hours must be in approved technology programs.

The Supreme Court of Florida amended Bar Rule 6-10.3(b) (Minimum Hourly Continuing Legal Education Requirements), effective January 8, 2024, to:

• Reduce the overall CLE requirement from 33 to 30 hours per reporting cycle.
• Require Bar members to complete a two-hour legal professionalism course produced by The Florida Bar and approved by this Court during each reporting cycle. This two-hour course, which the Bar will offer free of charge, replaces the existing one-hour professionalism program requirement. *
  
  
• Remove “bias elimination” from the requirement that “at least 5 of the 30 credit hours must be in approved legal ethics, professionalism, substance abuse, or mental health and wellness programs.” [Courses in “bias elimination” that meet The Florida Bar’s general course approval requirements will continue to count toward fulfilling Bar members’ overall 30-hour CLE requirement, but such courses will no longer count toward fulfilment of the five-hour sub-requirement specified in the rule.]

Further guidance from the Supreme Court of Florida: Any “bias elimination” courses taken prior to the effective date of the amendments to Bar Rule 6-10.3 will count toward a member’s fulfilment of the five hour sub-requirement for the member’s applicable reporting cycle. For any member with less than three months remaining in their CLE reporting cycle on the effective date of the Bar Rule 6-10.3 amendments, the requirement to take the two-hour Bar-produced course on professionalism will not apply until the member’s subsequent reporting cycle.

The existing one-hour professionalism program requirement is replaced. Bias elimination is removed from the sub-requirement of courses in approved legal ethics, professionalism, substance abuse, or mental health and wellness programs. Consult the Florida Bar to determine your compliance period. No credits may be carried over to the next compliance period. For additional information, please see the FAQ page on the Florida Bar website.

*NBB: MCLE London does not deliver this two hour course