What Are the CLE Requirements for Washington Attorneys?

Washington lawyers must earn 45 MCLE credits every three-year reporting period, under APR 11 of the Washington Supreme Court's Admission and Practice Rules.

The WSBA administers admissions under those rules and publishes the MCLE requirement on its MCLE for Lawyers page.

The 45 credits are a total with a built-in minimum: 6 of them must be ethics credits, with at least 1 equity credit.

The same page sets a lower track for two other licence types — limited practice officers (LPOs) and limited license legal technicians (LLLTs) need 30 MCLE credits per three-year reporting period.

No new LLLTs are being licensed, though: the Washington Supreme Court decided on June 4, 2020 to sunset that program, and existing LLLTs remain licensed, so the 30-credit line concerns LPOs and existing LLLTs.

The separately named credit type in Washington is ethics: 6 of the 45 credits must be ethics credits, and starting with the 2023–2025 reporting period at least 1 of those 6 must be an equity credit.

That is the full list on the WSBA MCLE page our research read — the page names no separate bias, wellness, mental-health or technology credit.

If a planning list adds a 1-credit mental-health requirement for Washington, it is saying more than the WSBA page supports.

Credit categories can change, so confirm the current list with the WSBA before you plan a reporting period around a specific credit type.

Washington's compliance clock carries two fixed dates.

Credits must be earned by December 31 of the third year of the reporting period, and they must be certified by February 1 after that.

The WSBA MCLE page we read states the two dates but does not set out the certification mechanics — where the certification is filed or in what form — so confirm the reporting process with the WSBA before your first compliance deadline.

This is a gap in our research.

We could not establish whether Washington sets separate CLE rules for newly admitted attorneys — a reduced first reporting period, a new-lawyer course or a mentoring requirement, for example — because the WSBA MCLE page we read does not address new admittees and we did not read the APR 11 rule text itself.

What is established is the baseline: the 45-credit, three-year requirement described above.

Whether anything different applies in a first period is a question for the WSBA.

Our research did not establish Washington's limits on online, self-study or on-demand CLE.

The WSBA MCLE page we read gives the credit totals and the ethics minimum but says nothing we could verify about how many credits may be self-study or recorded, or whether any of the 45 must be earned live — and a limit we could not read in the sources is not a limit we will state.

Ask the WSBA how a recorded or on-demand program counts before you build a reporting period around one.

Carryover is explicit: WSBA's MCLE page says you may carry over to the next reporting period up to 15 excess credits, up to 2 of them ethics credits.

Extra work beyond the 45-credit minimum therefore is not wasted, but the cap limits how much of a surplus carries — credits above 15 do not carry over.

On exemptions our research found nothing to quote: the page we read does not lay out who, if anyone, is exempt from the 45-credit requirement by status, age or hardship, so an exemption question belongs with the WSBA.

Washington publishes a late-fee schedule.

The MCLE late fee starts at $150 and increases in increments of $300 for each consecutive late reporting period, so the fee grows with each additional consecutive late period.

The fee schedule is where the page we read stops: it does not describe the rest of the enforcement path, such as whether an unresolved deficiency leads to a suspension.

What follows a late certification beyond the fees is a question to put to the WSBA.