What Are the CLE Requirements for Arizona Attorneys?

Arizona lawyers must complete 15 CLE hours per educational year, including at least 3 hours of professional responsibility/ethics.

That 15-hour figure is the full annual requirement; the specialty minimum inside it is covered below.

The requirement follows the State Bar of Arizona's educational year, which starts July 1 — not the calendar year.

The specialty minimum our research confirmed is professional responsibility/ethics: at least 3 of the 15 hours each year.

The MCLE pages we read name no separate bias, wellness or technology credit, so our research does not establish one — confirm the current credit types with the State Bar of Arizona before you plan a year around a category.

One more professional-responsibility source is set by rule: the Professionalism Course that new admittees take counts entirely as professional responsibility CLE.

Arizona's CLE year runs July 1 to June 30, and the compliance affidavit is due September 15.

Reporting is self-certification: the State Bar of Arizona does not approve or accredit CLE providers or programs, and the lawyer certifies completion by affidavit.

That also leaves program choice with you: with nothing pre-approved, there is no pre-cleared list to choose from.

New admittees get two first-year rules.

The hour requirement is reduced: lawyers admitted or registered with the Bar during the first half of an educational year, July to December, owe 10 hours that year, including at least 2 of professional responsibility/ethics, while those admitted January to June owe nothing that year.

New admittees must also complete the State Bar's one-time 4.25-hour Professionalism Course within their first year, and all 4.25 hours count as professional responsibility CLE.

Yes, with one cap.

Self-study — non-verifiable recorded programs — is limited to 5 hours per year, so recorded on-demand programming cannot cover the whole 15-hour requirement on its own.

Interactive online programs are not capped as self-study.

Pro bono service is another non-course route: Arizona lawyers can claim 1 CLE hour for every 5 hours of pro bono service through an approved Legal Services Organization, and that credit counts as self-study, inside the same 5-hour cap.

Arizona lets lawyers carry forward up to 15 CLE hours to the next year, including 3 professional responsibility/ethics hours — at the maximum, the carryforward equals the annual requirement itself.

On exemptions, our research did not confirm which statuses or circumstances excuse an Arizona lawyer from the MCLE requirement; the pages we read do not list exemption categories, so ask the State Bar of Arizona before assuming any change in status changes what you owe.

Arizona's late fees escalate with delay: they start at $33 for hours completed in July and climb to $200 when the affidavit is filed November 16 or later.

The steeper risk is status — failure to file the affidavit by December 15 may result in a motion for summary suspension from the practice of law.

The fee schedule is the one the State Bar publishes per Administrative Order 2014-32, and both it and the December 15 cutoff come from the State Bar's MCLE requirements and deadlines page.