West Virginia CLE Requirements: Hours, Ethics, and Reporting

West Virginia CLE requirements call for 24 credit hours of continuing legal education every two years for attorneys on active status, and at least three of those hours must cover ethics-related topics.¹ The current cycle runs July 1, 2024, through June 30, 2026, credits must be reported by July 31, 2026, and missing that deadline costs $200 in late fees with license suspension possible if the shortfall goes uncured.²

The 24 Hours and the Ethics Minimum

The biennial requirement splits into two buckets. At least three hours must cover legal ethics, office management, attorney well-being, or elimination of bias in the legal profession. The remaining 21 hours can address any substantive legal topic.¹ The three-hour ethics floor is where attorneys most often trip up, so it helps to track those hours separately from the start of the cycle.

Earn more than 24 hours in a cycle and you can carry up to six excess hours into the next one. Carryover credits will not count toward the three-hour ethics minimum, though, so stockpiling extra ethics hours does not buy you anything for the following period.³

How You Can Earn the Credits

Live in-person seminars and interactive webcasts carry no cap. You can meet your entire 24-hour requirement through them if you want to.¹

Self-study formats are capped. Prerecorded video, audio, correspondence courses, and computer-based training together cannot exceed 12 hours per cycle, and the same 12-hour ceiling applies to in-house instruction.⁴

Teaching

Teaching an accredited CLE course earns six credit hours if the session runs at least 50 minutes. Panel discussions or shorter teaching segments earn three hours. The program itself has to be accredited.

Writing

Publishing original legal scholarship also earns credit: bar journal articles, book chapters, and contributions to legal newsletters distributed to at least 300 attorneys all qualify. The CLE Commission decides the hours based on depth and scholarly nature of the work, with an 18-hour ceiling per two-year period. You apply with a copy of the work, a statement of originality, and publication details.

Reporting Deadline and How to File

The cycle ends June 30 of each even-numbered year, and you have until July 31 of the same year to enter your credits on your CLE transcript.⁵ Anything reported after July 31 triggers a $200 late fee, and delinquent credits will not post to your transcript until outstanding fees are paid.⁶

Reporting happens through the State Bar’s online membership portal at mywvbar.org, using the “Submit Credit” function. For each course, have ready:

The course ID number from the State Bar’s approved course list
Course title and date of attendance
Provider name
Credit hours earned, with ethics hours listed separately from general hours

Most of this appears on the Certificate of Attendance issued at the end of each program. The portal generates a verification notice once your filing is received; save it as your receipt.

Credits Earned in Another State

West Virginia may accept out-of-state CLE, but the path depends on the provider. Programs offered by a presumptively accredited sponsor are generally accepted without extra steps. Courses that were not sponsored by an accredited provider and have not received prior West Virginia State Bar approval require you to apply for approval before the credits count.⁴

The reverse does not work automatically. If you are barred in multiple states and want credit elsewhere for a West Virginia State Bar seminar, the State Bar will not complete paperwork or pay fees to get its courses accredited in another jurisdiction. You self-report in that state under its rules.

Who Owes Less Than 24 Hours

Rule 6.04 of the State Bar Governance Rules recognizes several categories that reduce or eliminate the requirement:³

Attorneys admitted during the first 12 months of a cycle owe 12 hours instead of 24, and the full three-hour ethics minimum still applies.
Attorneys admitted during the second 12 months of a cycle are completely exempt for that period.
Attorneys restored to active status follow the same 12-hour or full-exemption framework depending on when in the cycle they reactivate.
Active non-practicing members, inactive members, judicial members as defined by Bylaw 2.07(d), the Clerk and Deputy Clerks of the Supreme Court of Appeals, and anyone else specifically designated by the Court owe no CLE hours.
The CLE Commission can grant partial or complete hardship exemptions in individual cases involving extreme hardship or extenuating circumstances, reviewed at least once per reporting period unless a lifetime conditional exemption has been granted.

The newly-admitted reduction is the one that catches people off guard. Attorneys admitted in the first half of the cycle sometimes assume they are fully exempt, then discover mid-period that they still owe 12 hours with the full ethics component.

What Happens if You Miss the Deadline

The penalty structure escalates. Missing July 31 costs $200 in late fees, and delinquent credits will not be posted until you pay.⁶ If the credits are still missing after the late period, the CLE Commission sends a certified letter to your address on file notifying you of the deficiency. From that point you have 30 days to cure the problem or request a hearing before the Commission.²

Let the 30 days pass without a cure or a hearing request, and the Commission petitions the Supreme Court of Appeals to suspend your license. An attorney who loses at a hearing or on appeal also pays the costs of those proceedings. Once suspended, you owe a $200 reinstatement fee on top of the original late fee and any outstanding bar dues.² The suspension holds until you complete all missing credits, report them, and pay every fee owed. Practicing law during that window opens you up to unauthorized-practice charges, so a lapse is not something to let ride while you catch up.

1
The West Virginia State Bar. West Virginia Rules for Mandatory Continuing Legal Education
2
West Virginia Judiciary. CLE Non-Compliance Petition 24-663
3
West Virginia State Bar. Rule 6 Mandatory Continuing Legal Education – West Virginia State Bar Governance Revisions
4
The West Virginia State Bar. Regulations – Mandatory Continuing Legal Education Commission
5
American Bar Association. West Virginia CLE Requirements and Courses
6
West Virginia State Bar. The 2020-2022 CLE Reporting Period Ends June 30, 2022