To keep an active California law license, the State Bar’s CLE requirements are 25 hours of approved continuing legal education every three years, and 10 of those hours have to come from specific subjects the Bar designates. You track the hours yourself, report compliance through your My State Bar Profile, and keep your certificates for at least a year in case of audit.
The 25-Hour Cycle and Your Reporting Deadline
The State Bar calls the program Minimum Continuing Legal Education, or MCLE, and runs it on staggered three-year cycles. Your deadline depends on the first letter of your last name at admission:
- 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 finishing one-time extended 38-month cycles. After this round, every group returns to a standard 36-month cycle starting March 30 of its reporting year.1State Bar of California. Compliance Groups The Bar does not track your hours. You log your own credits and hold onto certificates of completion.
The 10 Specialty Hours
Ten of the 25 hours have to cover designated subjects. These are carved out of the 25, not added on top. For the compliance period ending March 29, 2026, the breakdown is: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 a lawyer’s ability to practice.
- Technology in legal practice: at least 1 hour.
- Civility in the legal profession: at least 1 hour.
The remaining 15 hours can cover any approved topic, including California law, federal law relevant to California practice, or tribal law.3California Legislative Information. California Code BPC 6070 – Mandatory Continuing Legal Education
Participatory Hours vs. 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 qualify.2State Bar of California. MCLE Requirements
The other 12.5 hours can come from self-study: recorded lectures, self-assessment tests, and legal research without a live interactive component. An online course can count as participatory if the provider uses technology to monitor and verify active engagement throughout. If you’re not sure which bucket a course falls into, check the provider’s accreditation listing before you enroll.
Out-of-State and Online Programs
You can claim California credit for a CLE program attended outside California 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.4State Bar of California. Approved Jurisdictions
The physical-location rule catches people off guard. A webinar from a New York provider that you watch from your office in Los Angeles does not qualify under the out-of-state rule, because you’re inside California. That program has to be independently approved for California MCLE credit. The approving jurisdiction doesn’t have to be where the program is held either; a seminar in Washington, D.C. approved by New York works, as long as you’re attending in person or from outside California. Credit transfers one-to-one with the approving jurisdiction.
New Attorneys
Newly admitted attorneys have an additional 10-hour New Attorney Training (NAT) program. You must finish it by the last day of the month marking one year since admission. An attorney admitted June 15, 2025, has until June 30, 2026.5State Bar of California. New Attorney Training Program NAT hours count toward your first compliance period, and the 25-hour total for that first cycle is reduced proportionally based on how many full months you were active before your group’s deadline.2State Bar of California. MCLE Requirements After the first cycle, you’re on the standard 25-hour schedule with everyone else in your group.
Who Is Exempt
A few categories of active licensees are exempt from MCLE entirely, but you still have to affirmatively claim the exemption through your My State Bar Profile each compliance period. The categories are:6State 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 state government employees on a permanent or probationary basis who do not otherwise practice law.
- Full-time federal government employees on a permanent or probationary basis who do not otherwise practice law.
Attorneys on voluntary inactive status aren’t subject to MCLE, because the requirement applies only to active licensees. If you switch from inactive to active mid-cycle, you’ll owe a proportionally reduced number of hours for the rest of that period.
Reporting and What Happens If You Miss the Deadline
At the end of your cycle, you report through My State Bar Profile, declaring that you’ve completed all 25 hours including the specialty subjects. Hold your certificates and attendance records for at least one year after reporting, in case of audit.7State Bar of California. Keeping Your MCLE Records
Miss the deadline and you owe a $106 late fee.8State Bar of California. Minimum Continuing Legal Education The State Bar then sends a notice of noncompliance. If you don’t satisfy its terms, the Bar involuntarily enrolls you as inactive and you lose the right to practice. No hearing is required; it’s administrative.9State Bar of California. Rules of the State Bar, Title 2 Division 4 – MCLE The inactive status is public on the State Bar’s website, visible to clients, opposing counsel, and employers.
To get back to active status, you submit proof that you’ve completed the overdue hours and pay a $318 reinstatement fee.10State Bar of California. Appendix A – Schedule of Charges and Deadlines Extra hours you complete beyond what was owed can roll forward into your current cycle. Practicing while involuntarily inactive is unauthorized practice of law, so the real cost of falling behind runs well past the fees.