In Georgia, CLE regulation operates under the Commission on Continuing Lawyer Competency. Continuing Legal Education (CLE) is required annually in Georgia. The Georgia CLE Requirements are a minimum of 12 credit hours each year. Of the required 12 credit hours at least 1.0 credit hours are required in ethics and at least 1.0 credit hours in professionalism are required. If you are a trial lawyer a minimum of 3.0 credit hours of trials credit is required.
Attorney Credits, a nationwide CLE provider is approved to offer CLE in Georgia, and our Provider Number is 5105. We only offer pre-approved Georgia CLE courses. We all report your completed Georgia CLE hours every week, including the $4.00 per credit hour reporting fee.
Georgia CLE Compliance Cycle
The Georgia CLE requirements state that you must complete your CLE hours during each calendar year. This means that the CLE deadline is December 31 each year. Luckily Georgia has an automatic grace period until March 31 of the succeeding year in which Georgia attorneys can make up and CLE deficiency. In our experience, a vast majority of Georgia attorneys use this grace period each year, which has made March 31 the de facto compliance deadline for most Georgia attorneys. If you remain deficient on April 1 you shall pay a late CLE fee of $100.00 to Georgia and are in noncompliance. Failure to pay or complete your CLE by September 30 an additional $150.00 late fee will be levied. Reinstatement starts at $500.00, so make sure you be compliant.
The State Bar of Georgia thinks that it of utmost importance that its members maintain their professional competence throughout their active practice of law. As such, the State Bar of Georgia requires all Georgia attorneys to complete their required CLE each year. Attorney Credits makes sure that all our courses meet the Primary Objective Test in Georgia. That is, that the primary objective of our CLE courses is to increase the attendee’s professional competence as a lawyer. In following the primary objective, along with courses that are at least 60 minutes in length, including substantive written materials, and maintaining records, our courses get approved by Georgia for CLE credit. Complete your Georgia CLE Requirements with Attorney Credits, an Approved Georgia CLE Provider!
Who is required to complete their CLE?
Any active member, which is any person who is licensed to practice law in the State of Georgia and who is an active member of the State Bar of Georgia is required to meet these requirements. Of course, some people are exempt from this requirement. We wonder who wrote these rules? Exemptions have been written for the: governor, lieutenant governor, speaker of the house of representatives, other constitutional executive officers, members of the Georgia senate and house of representatives, US senators and representatives.
The trial CLE requirement applies to all members who appear as sole or lead counsel in the Superior of State Courts of Georgia in any contested civil or trial of a criminal case.
Georgia CLE Compliance Bundles
Attorney Credits offers full Georgia Compliance Bundles. For example, our Georgia Premier Bundle has all 12 credit hours, including the required ethics, professionalism, and trial credit hours. If you practice in a law firm with 5 or more attorneys, you should consider getting a Teams by Attorney Credits account. Let us manage your firm’s CLE for you with an affordable fully managed CLE platform.