South Carolina CLE Requirements

In South Carolina, active status attorneys must complete 14.00 CLE credits every year to maintain good standing with the South Carolina Bar.

South Carolina attorneys must report all 14.00 SC 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.

CLE providers will report your attendance to the South Carolina Commission on Continuing Lawyer Competency. You can check your CLE credits online at the SC CCLE website.

South Carolina attorneys can 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 satisfy up to 8.00 hours of their SC CLE requirements with alternatively delivered courses.

South Carolina attorneys must complete ethical considerations credits every year.

Every 2 years, attorneys must complete 1.00 CLE credit in substance abuse, mental health issues, or stress management and the legal profession. Substance abuse/mental health credit does not count toward ethical considerations credit, but it does count as general CLE credit.

Yes. In-program attendance verification is required.

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.

No. Except for the South Carolina Bar's Essential Series credits, CLE hours earned by new admittees during the reporting year in which they were admitted cannot be carried forward to satisfy the MCLE requirements of 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.