General Kentucky Continuing Legal Education Credit Requirements
In Kentucky, active status attorneys must complete 12.00 CLE credits (including 2.00 in ethics from courses offering ethics, professional responsibility and professionalism) every educational year (July 1 - June 30) to maintain good standing with the Kentucky Bar Association. Judges and attorneys who have reached the age of 75 or are at least 50-year members of the Kentucky Bar are exempt. Others may be exempt upon application to the Commission.
Credit Hour: 60 minutes (rounded to the nearest 1/4 hour).
Kentucky attorneys must complete all 12.00 required credits by June 30 of each educational year, but they have until August 10 to report their CLE credits.
The reporting period (educational year) is 1 year and runs from July 1 to June 30 of the next year for all Kentucky attorneys.
Kentucky attorneys are responsible for reporting credits earned.
Report your credits online at the Kentucky Bar Association website under the member CLE portals.
Experienced attorneys can fulfill their Kentucky CLE requirement by completing courses approved and accredited by the Kentucky Bar Association. Examples of accepted course formats include:
Live CLE
- CLE classes in live classrooms
- Live CLE Webinars
Technological Transmission
You may carry over 24.00 CLE credits for the next two educational years. You may carry over 4.00 ethics credits.
All CLE credits may be earned through live or technological transmission programs, including:
- Live Classroom Courses
- Live Webinars
- OnDemand/Technological Format Courses
There is no limit on the number of credits that may be completed through technology-based learning.
There is no limit. You may satisfy all 12.00 Kentucky CLE credit requirements with technological format courses.
No. Kentucky does not require in-program attendance verification for CLE credit.
An experienced attorney in Kentucky is either:
- An attorney who has been admitted to the Kentucky Bar for more than 12 months and has completed the New Lawyer Program, or
- An attorney who has been admitted to practice law in another jurisdiction for at least 5 years.
- State Contact Information:
- Address: Kentucky Bar Association, 514 W. Main Street, Frankfort, KY 40601
- Phone Number: (502) 564-3795
- Website: https://www.kybar.org/
- Kentucky CLE Rules, Newly Admitted Attorney Requirements, and Forms:
Are you newly admitted to the Kentucky Bar? Here’s what you need to know:
Attorneys who have been admitted to practice law in Kentucky for less than 1 full educational year as of the June 30 deadline are exempt from Kentucky CLE reporting requirements for that year. However, those attorneys are subject to the New Lawyer Program requirement, which consists of 12.00 credits and must be completed within 12 months of your admission to the Kentucky Bar.
Newly admitted attorneys may be exempt from the New Lawyer Program if they:
- Have been admitted to practice law in another jurisdiction for at least 5 years, or
- Have completed another mandatory new lawyer program of at least 12.00 credits, including 2.00 ethics credits, in another jurisdiction or through the U.S. Armed Forces, subject to approval by the Kentucky CLE Director.
Attorneys who have been admitted to practice law in Kentucky for less than 1 full educational year as of the June 30 deadline are exempt from Kentucky CLE reporting requirements for that year. However, those attorneys are subject to the New Lawyer Program requirement, which consists of 12.00 credits and must be completed within 12 months of your admission to the Kentucky Bar.
Your first educational year begins on July 1 of the first full calendar year after your admission to the Kentucky Bar. You are not required to report CLE to the Kentucky Bar Association (KBA) in the year you are admitted.
You do not have to report CLE credits on June 30 if you have been admitted to the Kentucky Bar but have practiced less than a year. Your first educational year begins on July 1 of the first full calendar year after your admission to the Kentucky Bar and ends on June 30 the following year.
For example, if you are admitted in October 2022, your first educational year will end on June 30, 2024.
Yes. The 12.00 credits earned by completing the New Lawyer Program are applied to your regular Kentucky CLE credit requirements for the educational year in which they are earned.
Yes. Unless exempted, newly admitted attorneys must complete the Kentucky New Lawyer Program requirement within 12 months of admission to the Kentucky State Bar. The Kentucky New Lawyer Program consists of 12.00 credits.