For Providers

  • Hours:

    Monday - Friday

    8AM - 4:30PM - Central

    Saturday & Sunday - Closed

     
    Address:

    1321 Murfreesboro Pike, Suite 810 

    Nashville, TN 37217

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    Tel - 615-741-3096

    Fax - 615-532-2477

     

     

     

     

CLE CREDIT

Not for private firms or corporations. Governmental departments may offer in-house programs if they are open to all department attorneys in the state and at least fifty percent (50%) of the approved hours are taught by speakers not otherwise associated with the department. See Regulation 5A.

Seminars dealing with Law Practice Management topics solely will receive EP credit only. Seminars also dealing with the ethics of law practice management topics will receive dual credit. See Regulation 5G.

Possibly, if they are open to outside attorneys on a broad basis (e.g., state-wide). Courses strictly limited to in-house counsel and/or clients and not primarily for the benefit of attorneys is not eligible for CLE credit. See Regulation 5A & 5I.

Seminars dealing with the disciplinary rules or ethical considerations applicable to attorneys receive dual credit (counts toward either the E/P or the General requirement, as needed by the attorney). Law practice management topics, stress management, time management, staff training and supervision, substance abuse awareness and action, general skills (e.g., speed reading), budgeting, and similar topics receive E/P credit only.

Training in courtroom presentation, including style, vocal skills, etc., will receive general credit only.

All programs must be primarily intended for attorneys, not a general audience. See Regulation 5H.

"Dual" credits are hours of CLE that can be used either toward the General or toward the Ethics & Professionalism requirement. However, "dual" credits DO NOT COUNT TWICE! (e.g., you cannot receive two (2) hours of credit for one (1) hour of attendance).

Yes, up to the one-half of the annual requirement (6 hours general and 1 1/2 ethics) for articles printed in books or magazines whose primary intended readers are attorneys.  See Rule 21, Secition 4.07(b).

A course accreditted in another state may qualify for credit in Tennessee.  First, request the provider seek accreditation in Tennessee - most will do so.

If the provider will not apply for course approval and accreditation, e-mail Attorney Services Specialist Angela Perry requesting instructions on how to submit a course or activity for approval and accreditation.

See Rule 21 section 8.02 - revised 10.8.2021.

Providers have 30 days to report course completion. If the course still has not posted after 45 days contact the provider. See Rule 21, Section 8.02.

No.  The provider/ course sponsor must be able to verify the time spent by you taking the course and provide a method of receiving and answering questions.   See Rule 21 § 5.01(i).

Credits earned in a year in which you were exempt will only carry forward to the extent that they would have if you were not exempt. e.g. If you submitted sixteen (16) General credits and six (6) Ethics credits in a year you were exempt, then four (4) of the General credits and three (3) of the Ethics credits would carry forward to the next non-exempt year. If you earned sixteen (16) online credits in a year you were exempt, eight (8) would carry forward to the next year.   See Regulation 4A.

Yes. To earn one hour of CLE credit, the attorney must complete sixty (60) minutes of instruction not counting breaks, etc.   See Regulation 3A.

Yes, You earn credits equal to four times the amount of time you teach if you distribute five or more pages of hand-out materials to the participants.

If you distribute less than five pages, you receive two times the number of hours you teach. For second and subsequent presentations of the same materials, you get half the credit of the first presentation.  

It is your responsibility to make sure the course provider submits your hours accurately.  

 

See Rule 21 §4.03(a).

Yes, up to one half the annual CLE requirement of both General and Ethics/Professionalism credits (6 hours general and 1.5 hours E/P) for articles printed in approved books or journals whose primary intended readers are attorneys.  

These hours go toward your live hour requirement.  You will only receive E/P credit if the ethics section is presented in a section separate from the primary topic and not interspersed with the primary topic.  See Rule 21, Section 4.08(b).

Yes. You will receive one hour of Ethics/Professionalism credit for each five billable hours of approved pro bono legal representation provided through court appointment, an organized bar association program or legal services organization.  (Rule 21, Section 4.08c.)

 

 

You can receive CLE credit for published writing (4.08b), service as a bar examiner (4.05), service on the Board of Professional Responsibility (4.06), or by passing a bar examination or specialty certification examination (4.06), service on a state or national governmental committee involved in formal sessions for review of proposed legislation, rules or regulations can earn up to one-half of the annual requirementSee Rule 21 §4.07a).  

Yes, you can receive a maximum of three hours of Ethics credit for indigent defense work in a compliance year.  If you report six hours, you can carry forward up to three credits to the next compliance year.

Complete the Request for Indigent Represenation Credits form. Attach the sheets you submitted to the ACAP system showing the number of in-court and out of court hours worked and send everything to the Commission.  Please send the documents only once.   See Rule 21 §4.08(d) 

Yes. Please have your dean or other appropriate person send us a signed letter on the school’s letterhead confirming the course(s) you taught, the quarter/semester/period you taught and the number of credit hours the students earned for successfully completing the course. 

You will receive credit for four (4) times the number of credit hours of the course.

You will need to pay the two dollar ($2) per CLE hour reporting fee for those hours.  See Rule 21 §4.03(b). 

No. You can only receive ethics or dual credit for teaching attorneys or law school students. Generally ethics credit is only awarded to instructors teaching a law school course on ethics or professionalism.

You cannot earn ethics or dual credit teaching legal ethics courses to a general audience.  See Regulation 5H(3) 

Yes.  Dual credit will be awarded for teaching Ethics and Professionalism courses in a law school.

Any legal instruction may involve an ethics component but the Commission will not attempt to parse out what percentage of a course could qualify for Ethics credit and what percentage of a course should receive General credit. 

Generally ethics credit is only awarded to instructors teaching a law school course on ethics or professionalism.   See Regulations 5H §§ 1, 2, and §5.

No. You cannot receive credit for CLE earned prior to your becoming an attorney.  

You will receive one year of CLE credit though for passing your Bar Exam.

No.  As a teacher at a college, university or law school you can only receive credit if you were the primary instructor for the entire semester/quarter/term.

No. You cannot receive CLE credit for giving a law related presentation to a general audience.   

Yes, an attorney can receive up to one year's CLE credit for completing a bar exam preparation course, but their attendance must be verified by the provider of the course to receive credit.

Also, the course must qualify as CLE. A self study course preparing you for the bar exam in another state WILL NOT qualify for CLE credit. 

Keep in mind an attorney cannot receive bar prep course credit and bar passage credit in the same year.  See Rule 21 Section 4.08(f).

No. You cannot receive CLE credit for participation in a high school or college moot court or mock court competition.    

You can receive up to three (3) hours of CLE credit for judging or coaching moot courrt or a mock trial at an approved law school

Credit is earned at the rate of one hours of E/P (dual) credit for five (5) hours of coaching or judging. See Rule 21 §4.03(c)

No,. Your 15 hours of bar exam credit is linked to the year your passed the bar exam.  

If years have gone by since passing the bar exam, you will probably need to complete your 15 hours of CLE during the year you were actually sworn in because your CLE credit is given when you passed the bar exam, not when you were sworn in.

If the program or presentation was approved for CLE credit, then yes, but it is unlikely that a presentation to someone other than attorneys will be approved for CLE.

The Commission does not generally award CLE credit for presentations to anyone other than attorneys.  

If you are not giving an approved and accredited continuing legal education program, you are not going to receive credit.

An attorney can carry forward or backwards up to 15.0 online hours from one compliance year to the succeeding or precediing year.

Yes, but you can only receive bar exam credit once in any compliance year.   If you received credit for passing the Tennessee bar exam this year,  you will not be able to receive credit for the bar exam you passed in another state.

We award 12 general live CLE credits for passing the bar exam and 3 dual live credits for passing the MPRE.

This would also apply to bar exam and bar review courses.   You can only receive credit for one or the other in any compliance year. See Rule 21 §4.06 & 4.08(f)

You can use a maximum of three (3) pro bono/indigent defense CLE credits in any compliance year.  Those hours count as live ethics (E/P) credits. You can carry over a maximum of three (3) credits to the next compliance year.

No.  You can only receive credit for one or the other in any compliance year.  See Rule 21 §4.06

The attorneys will only be able to receive CLE credit if the hours are earned while working for an “Approved Legal Assistance Program” as defined in Supreme Court Rule 21§4.07(c).  If the church or agency is interested in applying to the Tennessee Supreme Court to become an Approved Legal Assistance Program they can obtain the application form on the CLE Commission website.

A list of Approved Legal Assistance Programs can be found at the bottom of the drop down menu after clicking on For Attorney's tab.

No.   Listening to a podcast or a downloaded audio file, even from a state bar association,  is considered self study in Tennessee and not eligible for CLE credit.  Tennessee requires tracking of the time spent listening to or watching an electronically delivered CLE presentation.  If the provider is not tracking when you started and stopped listening, then the course is not eligible for CLE credit in Tennessee.

Yes. If you were appointed to represent someone as an attorney or a GAL you need to add some additional language to the Order at the conclusion of your appointment.  

We suggest you ask the Court to state in its Order that you represented the client pro bono and did not seek compensation for the ____ billable hours your spent on your representation (specify the number of hours ).

If the Order has already been entered, you can have the judge/chancellor write a short letter to the CLE Commission on their court letterhead saying that you were appointed to represent ________________(enter your client’s name) in the case on a pro bono basis and served without financial compensation for the ________(enter the number of hours you worked) worked.  

Your CLE credit is based on the number of hours you served so make sure the letter identifies your time.   It has been my experience that the judiciary appreciates your stepping up to do this pro bono and will be glad to do a short letter to the CLE Commission so you can get CLE credit. 

January 1st is the default date for most credits from the Commission on Continuing Legal Education (CCLE) as the provider.