Kentucky CLE Requirements

In Kentucky, active status attorneys must complete 12.00 CLE credits every educational year (July 1 to June 30 of the successive year) to maintain good standing with the Kentucky Bar Association. There are exemptions for judges and for attorneys who have reached the age of 75 or are at least 50-year members of the Kentucky Bar. Others may be exempt upon application to the Commission.

Kentucky attorneys must complete all 12.00 required credits by June 30 of each educational year, but they have until August 10 to report CLE credits for the educational year just completed.

The reporting period (educational year) is 1 year and runs from July 1 to June 30 of the next year for all Kentucky attorneys.

You are responsible for reporting credits earned. NBI will provide you with a verified certificate of completion and KBA Form 3. You may report your CLEs online by logging in to the Kentucky Bar Association website. Or, you can mail KBA Form 3 to the address found on the form.

You can carry over 24.00 CLE credits for the next two educational years. You can carry over 4.00 ethics credits.

There is no limit. You may satisfy all 12.00 Kentucky CLE credit requirements with technological format courses.

Kentucky attorneys must complete 2.00 ethics credits from courses offering ethics, professional responsibility and professionalism every educational year.

No. In-program attendance verification is not required.

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.

Yes. Newly admitted attorneys are exempt from completing the New Lawyer Program requirement in Kentucky if they were admitted to practice law in another jurisdiction for at least 5 years. Attorneys who have completed another mandatory new lawyer program with a minimum of 12.00 credits, including 2.00 ethics credits, in another jurisdiction or in the U.S. armed forces are also exempt, subject to approval of the program by the Kentucky Director for CLE.

You do not have to report CLE credits on June 30 if you have not been admitted to the Kentucky Bar for one full educational year by that date. Your first educational year begins on July 1 of the first full educational 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. Credits earned by completing the New Lawyer Program requirement will be applied to your 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.