General South Carolina Continuing Legal Education Credit Requirements
In South Carolina, active status attorneys must complete 14.00 CLE credits every year to maintain good standing with the South Carolina Bar.
In addition, South Carolina attorneys must complete 2.00 legal ethics/professional responsibility credits every year and 1.00 CLE credit in Substance Abuse/Mental Health every two years.
Substance Abuse/Mental Health credit does not count toward ethical considerations credit, but it does count as general CLE credit.
Credit Hour: 60 minutes (rounded to the nearest 1/100 hour).
South Carolina attorneys must report all 14.00 CLE credits by March 1.
The South Carolina compliance period is 1 year and runs from March 1 through the last day of February the following year.
Reports of compliance with CLE requirements required by the Regulations for Mandatory Continuing Legal Education for Judges and Active Members of the South Carolina Bar are due by March 1. Based on court rules, the Commission will suspend a lawyer if they fail to submit a report of compliance and pay the annual filing fee, as well as any penalties assessed by the Commission, by March 31.
NBI reports your credit to the South Carolina Commission on CLE and Specialization.
You can check your CLE credits online at the South Carolina Bar website.
As of 2025; The compliance report filing fee for regular attorneys, limited certificate members, and judges is $53. The compliance report filing fee for certified specialists is $103. Please make your check or money order payable to SC Commission on CLE. This is the COMMCLE or Supreme Court Commission on CLE Courthouse in Columbia, South Carolina located at the 950 Taylor St Study, Columbia, SC 29201 address noted earlier.
Experienced attorneys can fulfill their South Carolina CLE requirement by completing courses approved and accredited by the South Carolina Commission on Continuing Legal Education and Specialization. Examples of accepted course formats include:
Live CLE (Minimum 6.00 Hours)
Alternatively Delivered (Maximum 8.00 Hours)
- Live webcasts
- OnDemand
- Teleconference
South Carolina attorneys may carry over 14.00 CLE credits to the next compliance year, of which a maximum of 2.00 CLE credits can be legal ethics and professional responsibility credits. Substance Abuse/Mental Health credits and credit for alternatively delivered programs cannot be carried over.
Attorneys can earn up to 8.00 hours of their South Carolina CLE requirements with alternatively delivered courses.
Yes. In-program attendance verification is required for OnDemand courses.
- State Contact Information:
- Physical Address: South Carolina Bar, 950 Taylor St., Columbia, SC 29201
- Mailing Address: South Carolina Bar, P.O. Box 208, Columbia, SC 29202
- Phone Number: 803-799-6653
- Website: https://www.scbar.org/
- South Carolina CLE FAQs
Are you newly admitted to the South Carolina Bar? Here’s what you need to know:
Newly admitted attorneys in South Carolina are exempt from CLE requirements for the reporting year in which they are admitted to the bar. New attorneys must complete an Essential Series course during their first compliance period, which begins on March 1 after admission.
Newly admitted attorneys in South Carolina are exempt from CLE requirements for the reporting year in which they are admitted to the bar. They must complete the Essential Series course offered by the South Carolina Bar. Credits earned from NBI courses during this exemption period may not be carried over into the first reporting period.
No. Except for the South Carolina Bar's Essential Series credits, CLE hours earned during the reporting year in which they were admitted cannot be carried forward to their first reporting year.
Your first reporting period begins on March 1 after you were admitted to practice law in South Carolina and ends on the last day of February the following year.
Yes. Before the end of their first required reporting year, newly admitted members must complete an Essentials Series course administered by the South Carolina Bar.
Hours earned by attendance at an Essentials Series course will be applied to the attorney's first required reporting year. Members who live and practice outside of South Carolina may take an Essentials Series course online. Otherwise, attorneys must complete the in-person course in Columbia.
Yes. The following newly admitted members are exempt from completing an Essentials Series course:
- Members called to active military duty and who elect to become Military Members under 410(h)(1)(E), SCACR.
- Inactive members who remain inactive through the end of the first required reporting year.
- Members who have been admitted to practice law in another jurisdiction for at least two (2) years prior to admission in South Carolina.
- Members who took the South Carolina Bar's Bridge the Gap Program prior to March 2013.
During their first required compliance year, newly admitted attorneys must complete the Essentials Series course administered by the South Carolina Bar.
- Essentials Series credits count toward the first required CLE cycle.
- Attorneys residing and practicing out of state may complete the Essentials Series online.
- Otherwise, attendance at the in-person Essentials Series in Columbia is required.