Georgia CLE Requirements: Credits, Exemptions, and Reinstatement

Active attorneys must satisfy Georgia CLE requirements by completing 18 credit hours during each two-year compliance period, including 3 hours of ethics and 2 hours of professionalism. The current period runs from January 1, 2026 through December 31, 2027. The Commission on Continuing Lawyer Competency (CCLC) administers the rules, and the Supreme Court of Georgia enforces them by suspending attorneys who fall behind.¹

The Biennial Compliance Period

Georgia used to require 12 hours every calendar year. That annual structure ended after 2025. Starting in 2026, the state switched to a two-year cycle, and the first biennial period closes on December 31, 2027.¹

If you still owed hours under the old 2025 annual rule, the grace deadline to finish those 12 hours was March 31, 2026, with a $100 late fee for missing it.² Everything from here forward follows the biennial framework.

Required Credit Categories

The 18 hours are not entirely open. Georgia mandates specific subject-matter minimums:

3 hours of ethics covering the Georgia Rules of Professional Conduct and related disciplinary standards.
2 hours of professionalism as defined by the Chief Justice’s Commission on Professionalism.
13 remaining hours in any approved CLE topic.³

Ethics and professionalism are separate categories. A program approved for ethics does not count toward professionalism, and vice versa. The Commission on Professionalism sets its own criteria for what qualifies as professionalism credit.⁴

Trial Practice Credit

Under the former annual rule, attorneys who appeared as lead counsel in Georgia’s superior or state courts owed 3 of their 12 hours in trial-practice subjects such as evidence, procedure, and trial advocacy. The State Bar’s new biennial listing names only ethics and professionalism as mandatory categories.¹ If you regularly appear as lead counsel, confirm with the CCLC whether the trial-practice requirement still applies or has been folded into the general 13 hours.

How You Can Earn the Hours

All 18 hours can come from approved online, on-demand, or live webcast programs. Georgia no longer caps distance learning, and that is a permanent change rather than a temporary waiver.³ In-person seminars remain available, but they carry no credit advantage.

Every program must come from an approved CLE sponsor. If you want credit for a program from a sponsor that has not been pre-approved, you can apply for individual credit by submitting course materials and instructor qualifications to the CCLC, though the review takes time and approval is not guaranteed.

You can also earn credit outside a classroom:

Non-paid CLE teaching earns 3 credits for each hour presented, with prior CCLC approval required.
Publishing a legal article in a recognized attorney-focused publication can earn up to 6 hours, provided the article involves substantial research beyond routine practice.
Chairing or organizing a CLE program without presenting earns the equivalent of a 1-hour presentation. Co-chairs split the credit based on contribution, and the standard attendee fee still applies.
Courses at an ABA-accredited law school earn one-half CLE credit per 60 minutes of instruction, capped at 12 CLE hours per calendar year.⁵

Hours in excess of 18 during the 2026–27 period carry over to the next biennial cycle, and under the new rules that carryover includes ethics and professionalism hours.¹

Who Is Exempt

Not every bar member owes 18 hours. Georgia recognizes several exemption categories:⁶

Attorneys on inactive dues status for the entire compliance period.
Out-of-state members who neither practice in Georgia nor represent Georgia clients. Out-of-state members who comply with their home state’s CLE requirements can alternatively claim an exemption for a $60 fee.
Attorneys who reached age 70 before January 1, 2026. This is a grandfathered exemption and does not apply to attorneys who turn 70 after that date.¹
Judges prohibited from practicing law, who typically have separate judicial education obligations.
Designated statewide elected officials during their term.
Attorneys who can demonstrate undue hardship.

Newly admitted attorneys follow a different track. The Transition Into Law Practice Program (TILPP) pairs new lawyers with mentors and carries its own CLE and documentation requirements, replacing the standard requirement during your initial admission period.⁷

Deadlines and Late Penalties

All 18 hours are due by December 31, 2027. After that date, the enforcement sequence is short:¹

You have 45 days after the deadline to finish remaining hours or reconcile your transcript. No late fee applies during this window.
On February 15, a $200 late fee is assessed if you still have not met the requirement.
On May 1, the names of attorneys who remain noncompliant and have not paid all late fees are sent to the Supreme Court of Georgia for CLE suspension.

Track your progress through the State Bar’s online member portal, where your personalized transcript updates as approved sponsors report attendance. In-state programs generally include the $4-per-hour CCLC fee within the registration cost. You pay that fee out of pocket only when attending an out-of-state seminar whose provider does not remit it.²

Reinstatement After a CLE Suspension

A CLE suspension is a formal order from the Supreme Court of Georgia, and you cannot practice law until you are reinstated. Practicing while suspended can generate a complaint from the Unlicensed Practice of Law department, which the CCLC checks before recommending reinstatement.⁸

To get reinstated, you must complete enough approved CLE to cover every deficient compliance period, not only the one that triggered the suspension, and you must also show progress on the current period. Once the hours are complete, you file a reinstatement motion with the CCLC along with the fee. The CCLC then files its own motion with the Supreme Court, which has the final say.⁸

Reinstatement fees rise with repeat suspensions:

First reinstatement: $500
Second reinstatement: $1,000
Third or subsequent: $2,000

The fees are non-refundable even if the Supreme Court denies reinstatement, and the CCLC cannot waive them.⁸ Given that the $200 late fee is the only intermediate step before a suspension referral, treating December 31, 2027 as a firm deadline is by far the cheapest path.

1
State Bar of Georgia. New CLE Rules
2
State Bar of Georgia. CLE Fees and Deadlines
3
State Bar of Georgia. CLE Information
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Chief Justice’s Commission on Professionalism. Professionalism CLE Guidelines
5
State Bar of Georgia. Commission on Continuing Lawyer Competency Request for Credit for Attending a Law School Course
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State Bar of Georgia. Who Is Exempt From MCLE?
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State Bar of Georgia. Transition Into Law Practice Program
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State Bar of Georgia. CLE Reinstatement Request