Oregon CLE Requirements

In Oregon, active status attorneys must complete 45.00 CLE credits every reporting period (every 3 years) to maintain good standing with the Oregon State Bar.

Attorneys in active status in Oregon must complete all 45.00 required credits by April 30 in their reporting year. The deadline to submit your MCLE report is May 31.

The compliance period for Oregon CLEs is 3 years and ends on April 30. Your first compliance period after being admitted will be a short reporting period and ends on April 30 of the next calendar year after your admission. After that, you will report CLE credits every three-year-period ending April 30.

For live courses, accredited providers are required to report your attendance to the Oregon State Bar. Oregon attorneys are responsible for tracking and reporting their own credits for recorded courses using Form 6. You can check your CLE transcript at the Oregon State Bar attorney portal.

Oregon attorneys can carry over up to 15.00 CLE credits to the next reporting period. This can include up to 6.00 ethics credits. Other specialty credits can be carried over as general credits.

Attorneys in Oregon can complete all 45.00 CLE credits with recorded courses.

All active Oregon attorneys must complete the following specialty credits every reporting period:

• 5.00 - Ethics
• 1.00 - Abuse Reporting
• 1.00 - Mental Health/Substance Abuse
• 3.00 - Access to Justice (in alternate reporting periods)

No. In-program attendance verification is not required.

An experienced attorney in Oregon is an attorney who has been admitted to the Oregon State Bar as an active member and has completed his or her first CLE reporting period.

An experienced attorney may satisfy his or her CLE requirements in Oregon by participating in any of three different categories of qualified activities:

Category 1: Group Activities 

• Participating in a sponsored CLE program, which may include, but is not limited to:
  • live, video, or audio presentations
  • satellite broadcasts
  • on-line programs       
• Attending a law school or graduate-level class at an accredited university
• Serving in the Oregon Legislative Assembly while in session
• Participating in the New Lawyer Mentoring Program

Category 2: Teaching Activities 

• Teaching CLE activities or a law school or graduate-level course at an accredited University
• Conducting legal research and writing, including the preparation of written materials for CLE activities
• Serving as an Oregon bar examiner
• Serving on a qualified Oregon State Bar ethics committee or disciplinary board
• Serving on an Oregon State Bar committee or council responsible for court rules or jury instructions
• Serving as a volunteer judge pro tempore (temporary judge)

Category 3: Professional Development Activities

• Participating in personal management assistance activities
• Providing volunteer legal services
• Attending qualified courses on business development or marketing focused on the practice of law

Attorneys may earn an unlimited number of credits from Category 1 activities. For each Category 1 activity, Oregon attorneys may earn the following number of credits:

• Participating in a sponsored CLE program: 1.00 credit for 60 minutes of activity.             
• Attending a law school or graduate-level class at an accredited university: 1.00 credit for 60 minutes of activity.
• Serving in the Oregon Legislative Assembly while in session: 1.00 general credit for each week or part thereof while in session.
• Participating in the New Lawyer Mentoring Program:
  • As a mentor serving one new lawyer:
    • 8.00 total credits, including:
      • 6.00 general credits; and
      • 2.00 ethics credits.
  • As a mentor serving more than one new lawyer:
    • 16.00 total credits, including:
      • 12.00 general credits; and
      • 4.00 ethics credits.          
• • As a mentee:
    • 6.00 general/practice skill credits.

Oregon attorneys may earn up to 20.00 credits per 3-year reporting period (up to 10.00 credits per short reporting periods) from Category 2 activities. For each Category 2 Teaching activity, Oregon attorneys may earn the following number of credits:

• Teaching CLE activities or a law school or graduate-level course at an accredited university:
  • 1.00 credit for 60 minutes of actual instruction
    • Except for panel discussions, for multiple presenters of the same session, the total minutes of actual instruction will be divided by the number of presenters unless indicated otherwise by the presenter;
    • For panel presentations, each panelist may receive credit for the total minutes of actual instruction.
• Conducting legal research and writing, including the preparation of written materials for CLE activities:
  • 1.00 credit for 60 minutes or research and writing, not counting time spent on stylistic editing.
• Serving as an Oregon bar examiner:
  • 3.00 credits for writing or grading a bar exam or local component question.
• Serving on a qualified Oregon State Bar ethics committee or disciplinary board:
  • 2.00 ethics credits for each 12 months of committee or board service
• Serving on an Oregon State Bar committee or council responsible for court rules or jury instructions:
  • 3.00 general credits for each 12 months of committee or council service.
• Serving as a volunteer judge pro tempore:
  • 1.00 general credit for every 2 hours of volunteer time on the bench.

Oregon attorneys may earn up to 6.00 credits per 3-year reporting period (up to 3.00 credits per short reporting period) from Category 3 activites. For each Category 3 Professional Development activity, Oregon attorneys may earn the following number of credits:

• Participating in personal management assistance activities:
  • 1.00 credit for each 60 minutes of activity.
• Providing volunteer legal services:
  • 1.00 credit for every 2 hours of uncompensated volunteer activity.
• Attending qualified courses on business development or marketing focused on the practice of law:
  • 1.00 credit for each 60 minutes of instruction.

Yes. Oregon attorneys can comply with Oregon CLE requirements by taking courses approved in other jurisdictions. This is called “reciprocity.” The states that support reciprocity with Oregon CLE requirements are:

• Washington;
• Idaho; and
• Utah.

Within 30 days of an attorney’s attendance of an accredited CLE activity, the sponsor of the activity must either:

• Post the attorney’s earned credits onto the bar member’s CLE Transcript through the attendance portal available on the Oregon State Bar website; or
• Electronically submit an attendance report to the CLE Program Manager with payment of a credit processing fee of $1.00 per credit reported.

Alternatively, a bar member may self-report credits to his or her CLE transcript, free of charge, by logging on to the Membership Dashboard on the Oregon State Bar website. 

Oregon attorneys must certify their CLE compliance on or before May 31 of the year their reporting period ends.

• State Contact Information: 
  • Address: Oregon State Bar, 5200 SW Meadows Road, Lake Oswego, OR 97035
  • Phone Number: (503) 431-6413
  • Website: http://www.osbar.org/mcle
• Oregon MCLE Rules, Regulations, and FAQs:
  • Oregon MCLE Rules
  • Child and Elder Abuse Rule Change FAQ
  • Reporting Instructions

By April 30 of the calendar year after admission, new attorneys must complete 15.00 CLE credits as follows:

• 9.00 Practical Skills (4.00 of which must be in Oregon practice & procedure)
• 2.00 Ethics (1.00 of which must be in Oregon ethics)
• 1.00 Mental Health/Substance Abuse
• 3.00 Credit Introductory Access to Justice Course

Unless you have practiced law in another jurisdiction for at least 2 years, you must also enroll in the New Lawyer Mentoring Program (NLMP).

Yes. If you complete more than the 15.00 CLE hours required for your first short reporting period, you may carry over up to 15.00 hours to your first regular 3-year reporting period.

No. The Learning the Ropes Course offered by the Oregon State Bar Professional Liability Fund is not required, but many new attorneys choose to take it because it does fulfill all of your CLE requirements for your first reporting period.

Attorneys newly admitted to practice law in Oregon must complete the following by April 30 in the calendar year after admission:

• 9.00 Practical Skills (4.00 of which must be in Oregon practice & procedure)
• 2.00 Ethics (1.00 of which must be in Oregon ethics)
• 1.00 Mental Health/Substance Abuse
• 3.00 Credit Introductory Access to Justice Course

Additionally, unless you have practiced in another jurisdiction for at least 2 years, as a new attorney in Oregon, you must enroll in the New Lawyer Mentoring Program within 28 days of admission. You earn 6.00 CLE credits for the NLMP, but they do NOT count for your first year reporting requirements. They DO count for CLE credits for your 3-year reporting period requirements. At the end of your 3-year reporting period, you must electronically file a Certificate of Completion for your NLMP through the Oregon State Bar website.

A newly admitted attorney in Oregon is an attorney who is admitted as an active member of the Oregon State Bar but has not yet completed his or her first CLE reporting period

The initial CLE reporting period runs from the date of the attorney’s admission as an active member of the Oregon State Bar until April 30 of the next calendar year after admission.

Oregon attorneys may certify their CLE compliance by electronically certifying and submitting a completed compliance report through the electronic system provided by the Oregon State Bar.