The Supreme Court approved several significant amendments to the Regulations of the Board of Continuing Legal Education as recommended by the New Jersey State Bar Association’s Board of Trustees. Those amendments, which include further defining live instruction, approving new admit subject areas and reciprocity, will take effect on Jan. 1, 2024. The NJSBA supported many of the recommendations in the report that were ultimately adopted.
“The NJSBA has a unique and special interest in the regulations,” said then-President Jeralyn L. Lawrence in a letter to Judge Glenn A. Grant that included comments to the proposed regulations. “We believe many of the proposals will have a positive impact on the CLE requirements.” The Association submitted several comments on specific regulations to request clarifications, amendments and further explanation of the amendments.
The summary of amendments that the NJSBA commented on include:
- CLEs are to be issued in no less than one-half of a credit hour or 25-minute increments. The NJSBA supported this recommendation because it creates parity with courses offered in other states;
- Clarify that watching a simultaneous live broadcast of instruction from a physically live program where the off-site attendee can interact with the instructor is considered “live instruction” for CLE credit purposes. The amendment further requires that there be a defined period or format for questions, comments or group discussion. The NJSBA recommended further clarification to address whether an alternate verifiable learning course will still qualify as live if the course allows for question and answer time at the end, but no one asks questions or offers comments, or if a course sets aside time at the end but instead allows questions and comments to be asked and addressed throughout the course, such as via chat or the Q&A feature on Zoom. The proposed amendments also expanded ALVF courses to include webinars, webcasts or other computer or telephonic presentations. No further clarification was made based on the Association’s recommendation.
- Increase the mandatory requirements for newly admitted attorneys from 15 to 16 credit hours in at least six (up from five) of 12 (up from nine) subject areas. The additional subject areas include New Jersey-specific administrative law, labor and employment law and workers’ compensation law. At least one of the six credit hours must be in attorney trust and business account fundamentals. The NJSBA recommended the addition of labor and employment law during the comment period, which was accepted.
- Clarify that any carryover credit hours must be previously unallocated. The Association suggested further clarification that those carryover credits are not those that were used to comply with the 24-credit requirement of the compliance period in which they are earned.
- Add professional education entities and public service organizations as eligible approved service providers. The NJSBA expressed concern over this recommendation unless the categories were directly linked to a specific educational purpose. The recommendation was accepted by the Supreme Court.
- Clarify that a notice of disapproval of an activity or course for CLE credit be sent to a provider “within a reasonable time,” removing the 45 days that is currently in the regulations. The NJSBA commented that the recommended verbiage would lead to confusion and uncertainty, recommending instead a longer specific time period.
- Require a record of CLE attendance to be kept and maintained for “at least” three years, rather than a fixed period of three years. The NJSBA expressed concern over this recommendation as unfair to attorneys who would now not be on notice as to how long they must keep these records. A recommendation was made to fix a longer specific period of time, but that recommendation was not accepted.
- Remove the 60-day grace period for non-compliant lawyers in favor of a time “to be determined by the Board.” The NJSBA expressed concern over this amendment because it may create confusion for attorneys, who would benefit from a fixed time to bring themselves into compliance. The Association was appreciative of the additional time offered to attorneys.
- Provide that a lawyer who fails to comply in a timely manner with the CLE reporting requirement is deemed administratively ineligible to practice New Jersey law, rather than “practice law in New Jersey.” The NJSBA recommended further clarification that the lawyer who is licensed to practice law in another state, but works in New Jersey, would still be able to practice law in that state. No further clarification was offered by the Supreme Court.
For a full copy of the amendments to the CLE regulations, go to njcourts.gov.
This is a status report provided by the New Jersey State Bar Association on recently passed and pending legislation, regulations, gubernatorial nominations and/or appointments of interest to lawyers, as well as the involvement of the NJSBA as amicus in appellate court matters. To learn more, visit njsba.com.