Illinois MCLE Credits: Hours, Carryover, and Reporting

To stay in good standing, Illinois MCLE requirements call for every active attorney to complete 30 hours of continuing legal education every two years, with at least 6 of those hours in professional responsibility.¹ Hours must be earned by June 30 of your reporting year and reported to the MCLE Board of the Supreme Court of Illinois by July 31. Miss those dates and you face late fees and, eventually, removal from the master roll.

Your Hours and What Has to Be in Them

Rule 794 sets the total at 30 CLE credit hours per two-year reporting period.¹ You can spread them evenly, cram them into one year, or finish them in a single month. The rule only cares about the total by the deadline.

Of those 30 hours, 6 must come from professional responsibility topics: professionalism, civility, legal ethics, sexual harassment prevention, diversity and inclusion, or mental health and substance abuse.¹ Within that 6, two sub-requirements apply: at least one hour must address diversity and inclusion, and at least one hour must address mental health and substance abuse. Completing the yearlong Lawyer-to-Lawyer Mentoring Program under Rule 795(d)(11) satisfies the full 6-hour professional responsibility obligation on its own, including both sub-requirements.

Which Year You Report

Illinois splits attorneys into two groups by last name. If your surname begins with A through M, your two-year period ends on an even-numbered year. If it begins with N through Z, your period ends on an odd-numbered year.¹

Two dates then anchor your cycle:

June 30 — all CLE activities must be completed.
July 31 — your compliance report must be filed with the MCLE Board.

The one-month gap exists so you can gather certificates and reconcile your transcript. It closes quickly.

How to Earn the Hours

The default is a live or recorded course with an interactive component and at least 30 minutes of actual instruction, delivered by an accredited provider. Rule 795 also recognizes a range of nontraditional activities for attorneys who want to mix things up.²

Teaching CLE courses, with full credit for the first presentation plus preparation time; repeat presentations earn less, and a third delivery of the same material earns nothing.
Teaching part-time at an ABA-accredited law school. Guest lectures don’t count.
Attending JD or graduate-level courses at ABA-accredited law schools, capped at the Rule 794 minimum.
Writing law books and law review articles, with per-publication limits each period.
In-house programs run by law firms, corporate legal departments, or government agencies, so long as the content is not case-specific or office management.
CLE-eligible presentations at bar or professional association meetings, up to one hour per meeting.
Cross-disciplinary programs blending law with another field. Purely nonlegal subjects like personal financial planning are excluded.

Pro bono work through Illinois Free Legal Answers earns one CLE hour for every two hours of service, capped at 5 credits per reporting period, under a Supreme Court pilot project.

Out-of-State Courses

Illinois has no automatic reciprocity with any other state.³ A course approved in New York or California does not count in Illinois unless the provider has separately accredited it here or you apply to the Board for individual credit on a qualifying live or live-technology course. Check accreditation status before you register.

Carryover Credits

Earn more than 30 hours in a cycle and you can carry up to 10 excess hours into the next period. Up to 6 of those carryover hours may count toward the next period’s professional responsibility requirement.¹ Anything above the 10-hour cap is lost at the end of the period.

Newly admitted attorneys get a larger allowance. They can carry up to 15 excess hours from their initial reporting period into the first regular two-year cycle, with up to 6 as professional responsibility credits.¹

Who Is Exempt

Not every Illinois-licensed attorney has to earn CLE. Rule 791 lists the exempt categories:⁴

Attorneys on inactive or retirement status with the ARDC, or who have been voluntarily removed.
Attorneys on disability inactive status under Supreme Court Rules 757 or 758.
Justices, judges, associate judges, and magistrates of any federal or state court.
Law clerks, judicial assistants, and certain court employees whose jobs prohibit active practice.
Attorneys on active duty in the U.S. Armed Forces, until they leave military service and return to practice.
Attorneys whose primary office or residence is in another state with comparable MCLE rules, so long as they are fully compliant there.
Foreign legal consultants licensed under Rule 712.

The MCLE Board may also grant a temporary hardship exemption or extension for good cause. If you qualify under any of these, you still have to file an exemption report with the Board rather than ignore the deadline.

Filing Your Compliance Report

Reporting happens through the MCLE Board’s online portal at mcleboard.org. You log in, walk through certification screens confirming you have met the requirements, and submit. The certification is sworn, so your answers need to be accurate. The system issues an electronic confirmation and updates your dashboard.

Keep certificates of attendance for every course throughout the two years. Each should show the provider name, program title, completion date, and whether the credits are general or professional responsibility. Many providers report credits directly to the Board, and those entries appear on your online transcript. Even so, you are the one responsible for the final tally. Providers make mistakes, and the Board holds you accountable, not them.

What Happens If You Miss the Deadline

If you haven’t filed within 31 days after your reporting period ends, a late fee kicks in. The amount is set by the Board’s fee schedule rather than fixed in the rule.⁵ If you still need time to finish your credits, you can request a grace period extension within those 31 days. The late fee for a timely extension request is lower than the standard penalty.

Blow past the grace period without filing, paying, or claiming an exemption and the MCLE Board refers your name to the Attorney Registration and Disciplinary Commission. The ARDC removes you from the master roll the same day.⁵ Once removed, you cannot legally practice in Illinois until you are reinstated. And for attorneys who have been noncompliant for two or more consecutive periods, the Board stops sending notices. At that point, tracking the deadlines is entirely on you.

1
Illinois Supreme Court Rules. Illinois Supreme Court Rule 794 – Continuing Legal Education Requirement
2
Illinois Supreme Court Rules. Illinois Supreme Court Rule 795 – Accreditation Standards and Hours
3
MCLE Board of the Supreme Court of Illinois. Does the MCLE Board Have Automatic Reciprocity With Other States
4
Illinois Supreme Court Rules. Illinois Supreme Court Rule 791 – Persons Subject to MCLE Requirements
5
Illinois Supreme Court Rules. Illinois Supreme Court Rule 796 – Enforcement of MCLE Requirements