Section 5. Compliance Year
(A) Each member’s compliance year shall begin on the first day of the month in which his or her birthday occurs.
(B) The initial compliance year for each member shall be the 24-month period that begins on the first birth month following the date of admission.
Section 6. Minimum Educational Requirements
(A) Every member shall complete fifteen (15) hours of continuing legal education during each compliance year as provided by this article. No more than five (5) credit hours may be given for completion of self-study activities during any compliance year.
(B) At least three (3) hours of the fifteen (15) hours shall be devoted to legal ethics/professional responsibility subjects. One (1) of the three (3) legal ethics/professional responsibility hours may be completed through self-study.
(C) All persons admitted, and any person who has been suspended, disbarred, or who has resigned pursuant to Article X of the State Bar Rules, or who has resigned pursuant to Article III of the State Bar Rules, or who has been suspended pursuant to Section 8 of this Article, or who has taken inactive status pursuant to Section 81.052, Texas Government Code, and who desires to return to active status shall be required, in addition to such other requirements as the State Bar Rules may contain, to comply with the requirements of Section 6(A) and 6(B) hereof.
(D) Accredited continuing legal education and self-study completed within a 12-month period immediately preceding a member’s initial compliance year may be used to meet the educational requirement for the initial compliance year. Exception: Credit for the educational activity entitled “The Guide to the Basics of Law Practice,” sponsored by the Texas Center for Legal Ethics and Professionalism, completed anytime during the third year of law school or during the initial compliance year, may be used toward meeting the educational requirements for the initial compliance year.
(E) Accredited continuing legal education and self-study completed during any compliance year in excess of the minimum fifteen (15) hour requirement for such period will be applied to the following compliance year’s requirement. This carryover provision applies to one (1) year only.
Section 7. Credit Computation
(A) Credit for attending accredited continuing legal education activities shall be based on net actual instruction time, which may include organized lecture, panel discussion, audio, video, and digital media presentations and organized question-and-answer periods.
Sponsors are encouraged to calculate the number of hours of credit that should be given for any activity offered, using the above guide, and indicate the number on the activity brochure. Fractional hours should be stated as decimals.
(B) Credit for viewing or listening to audio, video, or digital media shall be based on the running time of the recordings.
(C) Credit for reading approved material or attending in-office educational programs shall be based on actual time spent.
Section 8. Compliance
(A) Two months prior to the end of the MCLE compliance year, the Director shall send an MCLE Annual Verification Report to each member’s Preferred Address for who said MCLE compliance year applies. Upon receipt of the MCLE Annual Verification Report, the member shall review the report for accuracy and completeness. If the report accurately reflects the member’s MCLE compliance record for the current MCLE compliance year, and if it shows that the minimum CLE credit hours requirements have been met, then no additional action is required by the member. If the Report does not accurately and completely reflect a member’s CLE credits, then the member shall correct his or her record according to the instructions on the Report. To avoid fines and/or suspension, all CLE credit hours, corrections and additions to the MCLE record shall be completed, filed and received by the MCLE Director on or before the end of the compliance year.
(B) On or about the first day of the birth month, the Director shall make available to the member, a report of amendments that have been made to the MCLE record for the compliance year that ended immediately prior to said birth month.
The Director shall also notify any member who has not completed MCLE requirements for the compliance year that ended immediately prior to said birth month. A member, who has not completed his or her CLE requirements by the first day of the birth month, will receive an automatic grace period through the last day of the birth month to complete and report any remaining CLE credits. Members shall not be fined or penalized for completing and reporting CLE credits by the last day of the birth month (grace period).
(C) On or about the twelfth (12th) day of the month immediately following a member’s birth month, the Director shall notify all members who are in non-compliance for the MCLE compliance year just ended to advise such members of their non-compliance status. Such notice shall be in the form of a written notice, and sent to each member at the Preferred Address and via one (1) Secondary Address (if any) that is then on file with the Membership Department of the State Bar.
(D) On or about the first (1st) day of the third month immediately following a member’s birth month, the Director shall send final notice to any member who has not cured their non-compliance status. Such notice shall be in the form of a written notice, and sent to each member at the Preferred Address and via one (1) Secondary Address (if any) that is then on file with the Membership Department of the State Bar.
(E) If by the last business day of the fourth month following the birth month (or reporting month if the member has been granted an extension in accordance with this article for completion of CLE requirements) the member has still not cured his or her non-compliance, the member shall be automatically suspended from the practice of law in Texas as directed by Order of the Supreme Court dated December 23, 2002.
(F) Upon the execution of suspension, the Director shall cause to be sent a written notification to each member who is suspended from practice by the order. Said notification shall be sent to each member at his or her Preferred Address and via one (1) Secondary Address (if any) that is then on file with the Membership Department of the State Bar.
Section 9. Review and Appeal
(A) A member may file a written request for exemption from compliance with any of the requirements of this Article, an extension of time for compliance, an extension of time to comply with a deficiency notice, or an extension of time to file an annual activity report. Such request for excuse or for extension shall be reviewed and determined by the Committee or by such members as the chairperson may, from time to time, designate. The member shall be promptly notified of the Committee’s decision.
(B) “Good cause” shall exist when a member is unable to comply with this Article because of illness, medical disability, or other extraordinary hardship or extenuating circumstances that were not willful on the part of the member and were beyond his or her control.
(C) Should the decision of the Committee be adverse to the member, the member may request the Board of Directors of the State Bar to review the decision by making such request in writing to the Executive Director of the State Bar within thirty days of notification of the decision of the Committee. The Chairman of the Board may appoint a committee of the Board to review the decision of the Committee and make a recommendation to the Board. The decision shall be made by the Board.
(D) Should the decision of the Board be adverse to the member, the member may appeal such decision by filing suit within thirty (30) days of notification of the Board’s action, failing which the decision of the Board shall be final. Such suit shall be brought against the State Bar, and shall be filed in a district court in Travis County, Texas. Trial shall be de novo, but (1) the burden of proof shall be on the member appealing; (2) the burden shall be a preponderance of the evidence; and (3) the member shall prove the existence of “good cause” as defined herein. The trial court shall proceed to hear and determine the issue without a jury. Either party shall have a right to appeal.
(E) Any suspension of a member under this Article shall be vacated during the administrative review process and while any suit filed is pending.
Section 10. Return to Former Status
Any member whose license to practice law has been suspended under the terms of this Article who after the date of suspension files an activity report with the MCLE Director showing compliance and who has paid all applicable fees associated with non-compliance and suspension, shall be entitled to have such suspension promptly terminated and be returned to former status. Return to former status shall be retroactive to the inception of suspension, but shall not affect any proceeding for discipline of the member for professional misconduct. The MCLE Director shall promptly notify the Clerk that a member formerly suspended under this Article has now complied with this Article.
Section 11. Exemption of Certain Judges
Judges subject to Supreme Court Order for Judicial Education dated August 21, 1985, Supreme Court Order for Judicial Education for Retired or Former District Judges dated July 2, 1986, and federal judicial officers, shall be exempt from these requirements.
Section 12. Confidentiality
A member who reports attendance credits individually to the MCLE Director, without the sponsoring organization’s knowledge, automatically consents to release of his or her name to the sponsoring organization for the sole purpose of reconciling attendance records. Otherwise, the files, records and proceedings of the Committee, as they relate to the compliance or noncompliance of any member with the requirements of this Article, shall be confidential and shall not be disclosed except upon consent of the member affected or as directed in the course of judicial proceeding by a court of competent jurisdiction.
Section 13. Effective Date
The effective date of this Article shall be June 1, 1986.
The effective date of amendments to this Article shall be February 1, 2005.
