Yes — Oregon allows carryover of CLE credits, with limits and category rules.
Per the Oregon Bar’s Rules of Licensure, active attorneys may carry forward up to 15 unused credit hours into the next reporting period, including up to 6 ethics hours.
Details & nuances
- OSB Rules of Licensure § 8.7(5) explicitly states: “An active attorney member may carry forward 15 or fewer unused credit hours from the reporting period during which the credit hours were earned to the next reporting period.” (§ 8.7(5))
- Ethics cap — no more than 6 ethics credits may be carried over; any ethics credit beyond that may carry over only as general credit. (§ 8.7(6))
- Other specialty credits (e.g. Access to Justice, abuse reporting) may carry over only as general credits; the rule requires that new specialty credits be earned when required. (§ 8.7(7)–(8))
- Carryover is limited to one reporting period; unused carryover beyond the next period cannot be further carried. (§ 8.7(5))
- Newly admitted attorneys: if they exceed the short-period requirement, they may carry those excess credits (up to that period’s requirement) into their first full reporting period.
- Oregon’s total CLE requirement is 45 credits every 3 years, including required minimums in ethics, abuse reporting, mental health/substance abuse, and access to justice.
Key Takeaway
In Oregon, you can carry over up to 15 CLE credits (including up to 6 ethics) into the next reporting period, but carryover credits beyond specialty minimums count only as general credit and the carryover only spans one period.