How many CLE hours are required every reporting cycle in Delaware?

You may begin having your CLE attendance reported in Delaware as soon as the provider submits the record (within 30 days of the program), but you do not actively “report” until you certify on your Annual Registration Statement by March 1.
Delaware relies on providers to enter attendance into your transcript; your role is to confirm your compliance certificate when registering.

Key Details

• Providers must submit attendance to the CLE Commission within 30 days after each program.
• Your CLE transcript should reflect new entries by date of the program, not the entry date.
• The compliance period ends December 31 of your group cycle (even/odd based on admission year).
• You formally certify your compliance via the Annual Registration Statement by March 1 following that December 31.
• If a course you attended is missing from your transcript, you can submit an “Approval Request” through the DESCLMS platform.

Key Takeaway: In Delaware, CLE reporting is largely driven by providers (within 30 days of a program), and the first moment you must act is via the March 1 certification on your attorney registration.

You report CLE credits in Delaware by submitting your compliance certification via your DESCLMS (“Delaware Supreme Court Lawyer Management System”) account.
You must certify by March 1 (or earlier) following your compliance period and ensure your attendance is posted to your online transcript.

Overview of Delaware CLE Reporting

Delaware requires 24 CLE credits every two years, including at least 4 hours of enhanced ethics and at least 12 hours of live/in-person credit.
Providers must submit attendance records to the Commission within 30 days of the program date.
Your transcript is updated accordingly; if a program doesn’t appear, you may need to submit an approval request in the DESCLMS system.
If not compliant by deadlines, a graduated delinquency fee is imposed (first $150, then increments), and failure to cure by April 15 may lead to administrative suspension.

How to Report CLE in Delaware

• Complete required 24 CLE credits by December 31 of your compliance year, including the required ethics and live credits.
• Ensure your attendance is recorded by the provider submitting within 30 days.
• Log into your DESCLMS account and view your CLE transcript; verify that all programs appear.
• If a program is missing, submit an approval request via DESCLMS (“Add New Approval Request”).
• Certify your CLE compliance in your Attorney Registration via DESCLMS by March 1 (or the applicable deadline) to avoid delinquency fees and possible suspension.
• If you earned credits through Sprout Education, confirm they are reflected on your transcript; in jurisdictions that allow provider reporting, we submit attendance, but you must still ensure it appears in your DESCLMS profile.

Key Takeaway: Delaware attorneys must complete 24 credits biennially, ensure providers report attendance, verify the transcript in DESCLMS, and certify compliance by March 1. Sprout Education assists with reporting where permitted, but you’re responsible for checking your transcript and timely certification.

No — Delaware’s CLE rules do not provide different requirements based on part-time versus full-time practice; all active attorneys must meet the same baseline (unless exempt).

Delaware requires 24 CLE credit hours in each two-year compliance period for most attorneys, including at least 4 hours of ethics and at least 12 hours of live credit.

Details:

• Senior attorneys (those with 40 or more years of bar membership) have a reduced 12-hour requirement every two years (with 2 hours in ethics, 6 live) under Rule 4(C).
• Newly admitted attorneys must complete “Fundamentals” courses (7 topics) within their first four years, in addition to meeting the general CLE requirements.
• Attorneys who become active after a period of inactivity must have their obligation prorated based on the date of reinstatement.
• Exemptions exist for retired, inactive, or emeritus status, or attorneys not engaged in practice via affidavit.

Key Takeaway: Delaware’s CLE obligations are uniform with regard to part-time versus full-time status — there is no reduced requirement for “part-time” attorneys (except general senior/status exemptions).

Yes — Delaware allows carryover of excess CLE credits, but only up to 20 credit hours (as general CLE, not in their original specialized category).

Under Rule 4(A) of the Delaware CLE Rules, attorneys may carry forward “excess CLE credit hours” of up to 20 hours into the next two-year compliance period, though ethics credits carried forward cannot retain their ethics designation.

Details & nuances

• The Delaware Rules for Continuing Legal Education state: “If an Attorney has earned excess CLE credit hours, up to 20 such hours may be carried forward and applied to the requirement for the next two-year period.” (Rule 4(A))
• The rule also provides: “Ethics credits may not be carried forward as Ethics credits, but may be carried forward as general CLE credits.”
• For Senior Attorneys the rule is more restrictive: “If a Senior Attorney has earned excess CLE credit hours, up to 10 such hours may be carried forward … Ethics credits may not be carried forward as Ethics credits, but may be carried forward as general CLE credits.” (Rule 4(C))
• The Delaware CLE rules refer to a “compliance year” as the year in which the attorney’s December 31 deadline falls.
• The Delaware CLE rules are published on the courts’ site and the CLE-provider community also reflects this carryover rule (e.g. Delaware CLE Rules page notes 20 carryover).
• Some CLE vendor sites (not authoritative) incorrectly assert different carryover caps (e.g. “carry over 12 credits”) — those should not override the official rule.

Key Takeaway

Delaware allows you to carry forward up to 20 excess CLE hours into the next two-year period (as general credits), but you cannot carry forward ethics credits in their original ethics category.

Delaware attorneys are required to complete 24 CLE credit hours every two years, including 4 hours in ethics.

The CLE cycle is aligned with the attorney’s admission year (even-year admittees end compliance December 31 of even years, odd-year admittees end December 31 of odd years).

Details

• Live requirement: At least 12 of the 24 hours must be live/in-person CLE.
• Carryover: Up to 20 excess credits may be carried over to the next cycle (but enhanced ethics credits may not carry over).
• Enhanced ethics: 4 of the required hours must qualify as “enhanced ethics” under the Delaware rules.
• Reporting: Credits must be completed by December 31 of the compliance year; certification and related reporting follows via DESCLMS.
• Newly admitted attorneys: Their CLE requirement is prorated based on admission date; they also must complete Delaware’s “Fundamentals” courses within their first four years.

Key Takeaway: Delaware attorneys must complete 24 credits every two years, with 4 in enhanced ethics, at least half live, and may carry over up to 20 credits (excluding ethics).

In Delaware, attorneys do not self-report each CLE; instead, course providers submit attendance records via the Delaware Supreme Court Lawyer Management System (DESCLMS). Attorneys must certify compliance on their Annual Registration Statement by March 1 following the compliance period.

Key Details:

• All CLE credit requests and attendance data must be submitted via DESCLMS.org.
• Providers are required to transmit attendance within 30 days of the program.
• Attorneys certify CLE compliance through their Annual Registration Statement (not detailed course-by-course reporting).
• If a course does not appear on the transcript, the attorney must request credit via DESCLMS.

Key Takeaway: In Delaware, CLE reporting is managed by providers via DESCLMS, and attorneys certify compliance via their Annual Registration Statement by March 1.