What is the grace period for CLE reporting in New Jersey?

New Jersey attorneys must complete 24 CLE credit hours every two years. This includes at least 5 hours in ethics, of which at least 2 must be in diversity, inclusion, and elimination of bias.

Core Requirements & Breakdown

• Live requirement: at least 12 of the 24 credits must be earned through live or interactive programs
• Carryover: up to 12 general credits may carry into the next two-year period
• New admittee requirement: 16 of the 24 credits must be in NJ-specific subject areas across at least 6 required topics, with at least 1 credit in NJ attorney trust & business accounting fundamentals
• Compliance grouping: attorneys are divided into 2 groups by birth month; each group has alternating biennial deadlines

Key Takeaway: New Jersey mandates 24 CLE hours every two years, with ethics/diversity minimums and a requirement that half the hours be live.

Yes — New Jersey requires that at least half of an attorney’s CLE credits in each compliance period be earned “live” (in-person or synchronous interactive formats).

The rule ensures that 50% of the 24 credit-hour biennial requirement comes from live instruction as defined by the Board.

Details

• New Jersey attorneys must complete 24 credit hours every two years.
• At least 12 credits must be obtained in “live instruction” (i.e. in-person, live webcast, or similar synchronous formats).
• The remaining credits may come from alternative verifiable learning formats (recorded, on-demand, etc.), but those formats are capped at one half of the total CLE requirement.
• To count as live, a program must allow real-time participation and verification under rules set by the Board.
• Attorneys must keep certificates and records in case of audit; the Board does not pre-approve providers in many instances, so format compliance is evaluated post hoc.

Key Takeaway

In New Jersey, lawyers must earn at least 12 of 24 credits in a “live” format each biennium — so there is a built-in minimum in-person/synchronous requirement.

Attorneys in New Jersey report CLE compliance via their Annual Attorney Registration & Billing Statement, certifying that they have met the credit requirement for their compliance period. Providers submit attendance records to feed the attorney transcript, but the attorney’s self-certification on the registration statement is what constitutes formal reporting.

Key Details:

• Each attorney is placed into one of two compliance groups (Group 1 = born Jan–Jun, Group 2 = born Jul–Dec) and has a December 31 deadline in alternating years.
• Attorneys must complete 24 CLE credits every two years, including at least 5 ethics/professionalism credits (with 2 in diversity/inclusion) and at least 12 credits from live programs.
• Providers report attorney attendance via the Board on Continuing Legal Education (BCLE) system, which populates the transcript for attorneys to review.
• If a certificate is missing from the transcript, attorneys may submit it or dispute it with the BCLE before certifying.
• Late or noncompliance reporting requires completing a compliance reporting form and paying a late compliance fee.

Key Takeaway: In New Jersey, CLE reporting is handled via self-certification on the Annual Registration & Billing Statement, supported by provider attendance reporting through BCLE, and correction if needed before the deadline.

You report CLE credits in New Jersey by self-certifying compliance on your Annual Attorney Registration & Billing (after your compliance deadline), rather than by submitting all course attendance details.
New Jersey’s CLE system is self-reporting: you keep certificates for audit, but your registration filing is your compliance report.

Overview of New Jersey CLE Reporting

Attorneys must complete 24 CLE credits every two years, including 5 credits in ethics/professionalism, of which at least 2 must address diversity, inclusion, and elimination of bias.
At least 12 of the credits must be from live or interactive programming; up to 12 may be alternative verifiable learning formats.
Attorneys are placed into one of two compliance groups based on their birth month (Group 1 or Group 2), which determines the year they must complete CLE and when they report compliance.
Upon registering and paying bar dues in the year following your compliance deadline, you must certify whether you met CLE (or pay noncompliance fees).
If selected for audit, you will need to produce certificates and attendance logs covering your CLE activity for that compliance period.

Steps to Report CLE in New Jersey

• Complete your 24 required CLE credits (meeting specialty rules) by December 31 of your compliance year.
• Retain certificates and records of attendance for at least three years.
• During the attorney registration and billing process in the year after your compliance deadline, certify that you have satisfied the CLE requirements.
• If you are not yet compliant, indicate that in your registration and pay any noncompliance fees; you may be placed on the CLE Ineligible List until you make it up.
• If audited, submit your certificates and supporting materials to the Board on Continuing Legal Education.
• If you earned credits through Sprout Education, confirm that those events qualify under NJ CLE rules and maintain your supporting certificates—our reporting support is only as effective as the NJ rules permit.

Key Takeaway: In New Jersey, CLE reporting is done by certification during your annual registration, not by routine course-by-course reporting. You must complete 24 credits biennially, keep certificates, and self-certify in your registration filing—with backup documentation for any audit.

In New Jersey, you can’t formally “report” CLE credits immediately as you earn them in the sense of filing a compliance affidavit or certificate. The system is self-reporting, and the formal reporting (certifying compliance) occurs mostly through the annual attorney registration process after your compliance period ends.

That said, you may submit an application for credit for courses (especially non-approved or out-of-state courses) within 30 days after completing the course. BCLE Reg. 301 and the CLE FAQ allow attorneys to file an individual application for CLE credit no later than 30 days post-course.

Key Details

• New Jersey divides attorneys into two compliance groups based on birth month; each group has a two-year CLE cycle.
• All required credits for a cycle must be earned by December 31 of the final year.
• Attorneys certify compliance on the Annual Attorney Registration and Billing statement in the year following their CLE deadline.
• If a course is from a non-accredited provider, an attorney must submit an application for credit within 30 days after the date of the course.
• The Board does not track each course’s attendance in real time; attorneys must maintain Certificates of Attendance for audit.

Key Takeaway
In New Jersey, you don’t formally report CLE credits as soon as you earn them — the compliance certification happens after your two-year cycle ends and during your attorney registration renewal. You can file individual credit applications within 30 days of courses when necessary.

No — judges in New Jersey do not have a separate CLE regime; they must satisfy the same CLE requirements as all active attorneys.

New Jersey’s CLE rules (BCLE) apply to “attorneys, judges, in-house counsel” without imposing additional judicial-only obligations.

Details

• New Jersey mandates 24 credit hours of continuing legal education every two years.
• Of those 24 credits, 5 must be in ethics/professionalism (of which at least 2 must address diversity, inclusion, and elimination of bias).
• The CLE rules explicitly include judges among the class of persons who must comply.
• The CLE course catalog includes a “Judicial Education (for judges only)” category, but those courses count toward the same CLE requirement rather than creating a separate, additional pathway.

Key Takeaway

In New Jersey, judges have no distinct separate CLE requirement; they operate under the same CLE obligations as other attorneys.