Frequently Asked Questions: MCLE Audit

Once you have logged your courses into the online summary log, you must submit a Licensee Records and Compliance Inquiry with a copy of your certificates or other proof of course completion.

Or by mail:
MCLE Audit Team
Licensee Regulation and Compliance
The State Bar of California
180 Howard St.
San Francisco, CA  94105

If you are unable to locate your certificates or proof of course completion, please contact your provider immediately to request a copy of the attendance certificate or a printout. Many providers are happy to assist. However, please note that California MCLE course providers are not required to issue replacement certificates. The State Bar only mandates that they provide the original certificate received upon course completion.

This means you are not entitled to practice California law and your public State Bar records will note this period of not entitled status.

The State Bar website has a list of approved providers that you can search.

You may apply the MCLE credit from courses approved by many states and a few overseas jurisdictions if you were physically outside California when you completed them. This is by rule, so no special forms or requests are needed. Check the approved jurisdictions list on the State Bar website. 

All of the hours taken, whether participatory or self-study must be logged on the Online Summary Log.  The activities reported must be approved self-study activities.

You may sign into your My State Bar Profile page and navigate to the E-Learning Portal. Each MCLE course will offer a PDF-formatted certificate you may print or save, provided the courses haven’t expired. The State Bar only offers courses through the E-Learning Portal.

Please note we do not require copies of certificates for expired courses. We will have internal record of the courses you have completed via the E-Learning Portal as the direct provider. Also, the Portal will always have record of the courses you have completed, and you may view the list at any time.

You may only submit unaltered certificates from the official approved provider bearing your name and bar number.  

Photocopies are sufficient for the purposes of the audit. Hold on to your originals through the end of the year you report MCLE compliance.

Please submit the required amount of hours based on your status during the compliance period.  Excess hours may not be applied to the next compliance period.

No. Please do not submit your receipts. A receipt is not considered sufficient proof of course completion. If you cannot find your certificates, contact the provider, send them your receipts, and ask for their assistance in helping provide proof of course completion.

Providers are required to maintain proof of attendance for four years. Contact your provider to obtain your certificates of attendance and exhaust all possible avenues to find your attendance records before completing additional courses. Submitting out of period coursework may result in your audit file being referred to the Office of Chief Trial Counsel for further investigation and/or disciplinary prosecution.

If you receive a notice of deficiency and are able to locate more certificates for courses taken within the compliance period, please submit them as an attachment to the Licensee Records and Compliance Inquiry form. Please remember to include the MCLE Audit Submission Cover Sheet and a letter of explanation whenever responding to a Notice of Deficiency.

We will only accept a sign-in sheet if it includes the name of the course, course provider, date of activity and the number of MCLE hours afforded to attendees.

If you claimed exempt status for any portion of the compliance period, please complete the MCLE Online Summary Log by selecting “Yes” in the Exempt box and provide a letter from all of your supervisors confirming your titles and dates of employment relative to the MCLE compliance period along with the MCLE Audit Submission Cover Sheet by the deadline. If you also have a proportional requirement you should submit the necessary number of certificates.

Please only submit letters printed on official letterhead. They may be scanned and sent as an attachment to the Licensee Records and Compliance Inquiry form.

When logging credit for published articles, it is not necessary to put in a provider number on the summary log. The provider will be the name of the publication and the course will be the article title. This is self-study credit. When you submit your proof of compliance, articles should be noted on your self-study log along with the date of publication (or submission if publication is pending). Again please note the name of the publication and the title of the article.

In order to be eligible for MCLE the article must meet the following conditions:

1. have contributed to the attorney’s legal education
2. have been published or accepted for publication
3. have not been prepared in the ordinary course of employment or in connection with an oral presentation at an approved educational activity

Go to your MCLE summary log. Look for the course you’d like to edit and click the red “Edit” button on the right side of the log. Make your changes and save each one. Remember to hit “Submit” when you are done. Whenever you update your online log, please complete the Licensee Records and Compliance Inquiry form.

Yes. You must enter each course included in the package into the online summary log and provide a copy of any proof of completion it may have included (for example, a log and witness statement, if the MCLE bundle include them.)

Any questions regarding the MCLE Audit should be submitted to the State Bar’s MCLE Audit Team by submitting a Licensee Records and Compliance Inquiry. 

No. To complete the audit you need to submit proof of completion of the required number of participatory courses. At least one-half of any MCLE requirement must be completed via participatory courses.

The MCLE rules specify that some types of activities qualify only for self-study credit. Other kinds of activities can qualify for either participatory or self-study credit, depending on whether or not the member participated in the particular activity is verified by a provider.

If a provider verifies your "participation," an activity is "participatory." Provider verification consists of ALL the following: 

•     the provider has you sign in at the time of the activity (electronic sign-in is acceptable)
•     the provider keeps a list of those who signed in
•     the provider issues a certificate of attendance to attendees

Online courses, CD ROM-based courses, and some tape-based courses can count for participatory credit if they are verified by an approved provider. If unsure, contact the individual provider to verify that the program has been approved for participatory credit.  To confirm a tape or other self-study activity is still current, contact the provider.

This link includes a table you can use to verify your proportional requirement:
 

http://www.calbar.ca.gov/Attorneys/MCLE-CLE/Requirements/Proportional-Requirement

The deadline to show proof of compliance is stated on your MCLE Audit Notice.  If you fail to submit adequate proof of compliance by the deadline, you will be assessed a $103 penalty for late compliance, and you will receive a Non-Compliance Notice that gives you 60 days to comply.  If you do not submit adequate proof of compliance and pay the late fee within that time period, you will be placed on Not Eligible to Practice status until you submit the required proof of compliance, pay the $103 non-compliance fee, and pay an additional $308 reinstatement fee.

Speaking

Please submit course marketing materials that clearly show that the course was approved for MCLE, who the speakers were and how long the course was. You should also submit your certificate of attendance for that course if you were provided with one.

You may only claim speakers credit for approved MCLE activities. If you were part of a panel or you only presented a portion of the program you may only claim incremental speakers credit for the activity.

Teaching

You receive 12 times the credit hours awarded by the law school for the course.  There is an exception for subfield requirements in Ethics, Elimination of Bias, Implicit Bias, Mental Competence (mental issues in the legal world or society), Wellness (mental competence specifically in the legal world ), Civility and Technology hours.  For these "subfields," you only receive the actual speaking time.

To fill out the online form use the law school as the provider, the course title as the course and the date the class started as the date.  Mark the course as participatory and note any qualifying subfield hours.  Submit a syllabus and a letter from the law school stating that you were an instructor, the dates of the course, and the number of academic credits the school awarded for it.

The State Bar was charged with administering the MCLE program by an act of the California Legislature which amended B&P code to require MCLE for attorneys. The Supreme Court also authorized the program by rule of court, giving the State Bar authority to administer the program and to place non-compliant members on administrative Inactive status. State Bar MCLE Rule 2.73 authorizes the state bar to require certificates of attendance.