CLE for Lawyers Licensed in Multiple States

Start with the ground truth: there is no national CLE requirement, and a few jurisdictions in our research — DC, Maryland, Michigan and South Dakota — have no general mandatory CLE at all.

Beyond that, "CLE reciprocity" bundles two different questions, and the rules answer them separately: whether a course approved in one state counts in another, and whether compliance in one state satisfies another's requirement.

• Course approval can travel. Alaska sets no cap on recorded or technology-delivered CLE, and courses approved by any other mandatory-CLE jurisdiction are automatically approved in Alaska — so one accredited course can sit on two states' compliance records at once.
• Compliance is a different story. Kansas does not accept other states' CLE compliance as reciprocal — completing your hours in your home state does not, by itself, check the box in Kansas.
• Some rules exempt lawyers who comply at home. Alabama exempts lawyers who live and keep their principal office in another mandatory-CLE state and comply with that state's CLE — except reporting and the professionalism course. Tennessee lets non-resident lawyers who comply with CLE in another approved U.S. jurisdiction request an annual exemption.
• First-year obligations can shrink for experienced arrivals. Lawyers admitted in Illinois after practising at least one year of the prior three in another state skip the Basic Skills requirement and instead complete 15 CLE hours (including 4 professional responsibility) in their first year. Florida can exempt lawyers with 5+ years of non-government practice in another jurisdiction from its 21 basic-skills hours if they show 30 CLE hours in the past 3 years.

The working lesson: match each state's rule rather than averaging them.

The hours, subjects and cycles behind those rules are collected in our CLE requirements by state guide, and the admission-side question of holding licences in more than one state is covered in multi-state practice.

Moving a licence itself — admission on motion and comity — is a separate process, covered in bar reciprocity.

Start with what is on the books.

Experienced New York attorneys need 24 CLE credit hours per two-year cycle: at least 4 in ethics and professionalism, 1 in diversity, inclusion and elimination of bias, and 1 in cybersecurity, privacy and data protection (22 NYCRR 1500.22; the cybersecurity credit took effect July 1, 2023).

The cycle is not a fixed calendar year — it follows your biennial attorney registration, filed within 30 days after your birthday every two years.

New admittees are on a separate track: 32 transitional CLE credits across the first two years (16 a year), each year needing 3 ethics, 6 skills and 7 practice-management/professional-practice credits, and the two years together at least 1 cybersecurity credit.

Transitional credit is also format-strict — self-study, recorded and online formats do not count toward it unless the regulations or the CLE Board permit.

Experienced attorneys who run over can carry up to 6 excess credits into the next cycle.

Now the phrase this page gets searched for.

"Approved jurisdiction" rules do exist in CLE — Tennessee, as noted above, exempts non-resident lawyers who comply in another approved U.S. jurisdiction.

For New York specifically, though, the CLE sources we read for this guide do not document an approved-jurisdiction exemption, so we will not restate one secondhand.

If you are admitted in New York and practise mostly elsewhere, ask New York's CLE Board how out-of-state compliance is treated before you skip New York credits — your registration deadline still applies while you check.

The harder part of multi-state CLE is bookkeeping: each state sets its own cycle, deadline and paperwork, so they do not line up on their own.

• Different clocks. Texas runs its compliance year from the first day of your birth month to the last day of the month before it, with newly licensed lawyers on an initial 24-month period. Illinois runs two-year reporting periods from July 1 to June 30 and splits reporters by last name — A–M in even-numbered years, N–Z in odd-numbered years — with credits due June 30 and the transcript reflecting compliance by July 31. Pennsylvania permanently assigns each lawyer to one of three compliance groups with annual deadlines of April 30, August 31 or December 31. Virginia wants hours complete by October 31 and reported by December 15.
• You may be the record-keeper. Arizona does not pre-approve CLE providers or programs — lawyers self-certify by affidavit — and Colorado lawyers enter their own credits, because sponsors do not report attendance there. Connecticut requires attorneys to keep CLE records for 7 years.
• Format caps decide whether one course counts everywhere. Georgia allows all of its CLE hours through approved online programs, and Oklahoma places no annual limit on approved online, on-demand, webcast and podcast CLE. Indiana, on the other hand, does not accept self-study or downloaded CLE, Delaware requires at least 12 of its 24 hours in person at live courses, and Pennsylvania caps distance-learning credit at 6 hours per compliance period.
• Carryover does not cross state lines. Texas lets lawyers carry up to 15 hours (including 3 ethics) into the next compliance year; Idaho allows no carryover at all. None of the arrangements we verified lets surplus hours in one state cover a shortfall in another.

For what happens when a deadline slips — late fees, cure windows and suspension — our CLE compliance deadlines guide covers the enforcement side, and our online CLE courses guide takes up the format question on its own terms.

Nonresident relief is real but uneven, and it comes in three shapes:

• Exempt by rule. Louisiana exempts members living outside the state who are not practising Louisiana law, though Louisiana compliance records or exemptions are still due by January 31 of the following year. Oklahoma exempts non-residents who are not practising in Oklahoma.
• On application. Florida's exemptions must be applied for — for non-residents not practising Florida law, as well as active military service or undue hardship. Arkansas turns the question into paperwork instead: nonresident Arkansas lawyers file a Nonresident Certification Form with a $25 fee (due October 31, 2026 for the 2025–26 year).
• Not available. New Jersey's CLE applies even to lawyers who do not practise New Jersey law; its exemptions are limited to lawyers admitted 50+ years, age 75+, full-time military, VISTA or Peace Corps service, or full retirement.

Finally, there are licences that add no general CLE hours.

The no-mandate jurisdictions in our research — DC, Maryland, Michigan and South Dakota — impose no general mandatory CLE requirement, though DC still requires newly admitted lawyers to complete its Mandatory Course on the D.C. Rules of Professional Conduct and Practice.

Treat that status as current, not permanent: the Supreme Court of Maryland postponed consideration of a mandatory program on April 28, 2025 until further notice, and Michigan's no-mandate status is recorded as of 2026.

Our states without mandatory CLE guide covers those four in detail.

Career information, not legal advice. CLE rules are set state by state and change often — confirm your obligations, and any exemption or transfer you plan to rely on, with the CLE regulator or state bar in each state where you are licensed.