In-House Counsel

Ethics CLE is continuing legal education specifically focused on professional responsibility, legal ethics, and rules of conduct governing attorneys. It ensures lawyers stay up to date with ethical standards required by their state bar to protect clients and maintain the integrity of the profession.

What Ethics CLE Covers

• Rules of professional conduct, including conflicts of interest and confidentiality.
• Duties of competence, diligence, and communication with clients.
• Trust account management and handling of client funds.
• Ethical considerations in advertising, solicitation, and use of technology.
• Discipline procedures, sanctions, and professional responsibility obligations.

Provider Support

• Accredited providers, including Sprout Education, offer ethics CLE courses tailored to state requirements.
• Programs focus on real-world case studies, emerging ethical issues in technology, and practical guidance for compliance.

Key Takeaway: Ethics CLE is mandatory in nearly every state, ensuring attorneys remain compliant with professional responsibility rules while practicing law — with providers like Sprout Education offering accredited programs to meet this ongoing requirement.

Blockchain CLE is continuing legal education focused on blockchain, NFTs, and related legal issues. It helps attorneys understand both the technology and its legal, regulatory, and risk dimensions.

What Blockchain CLE Covers

• Basics of distributed ledgers, tokens, and smart contracts
• Legal frameworks for NFTs, crypto assets, and digital property
• Regulatory compliance challenges across jurisdictions
• Practical use cases in contracts, IP, finance, and governance
• Ethical and professional risks in advising on blockchain

Featured Course Example

• Sprout Education offers “A Legal Guide to Blockchain and NFTs,” a 1-credit on-demand course taught by Jeonghoon Ha, covering fundamentals, UCC issues, and regulatory risk.
• The course qualifies in many states for both general and technology credits.

Key Takeaway: Blockchain CLE arms attorneys with both technical and legal insight into a transformative space — and courses like Sprout Education’s help you earn real credit while building competence.

CLE reciprocity is the system that allows attorneys to receive credit in one state for CLE courses taken in another. It simplifies compliance for multi-state practitioners by recognizing credits across jurisdictions without requiring duplicate attendance.

How Reciprocity Works

• Some states have “full reciprocity,” accepting any accredited course from another MCLE state.
• Others allow “partial reciprocity,” granting credit if the course meets state-specific standards (such as ethics, professionalism, or specialty credits).
• Attorneys usually must request credit transfer or file a certificate of attendance with their own CLE board.
• A few states have no reciprocity at all, requiring courses be pre-approved locally.

Key Takeaway: CLE reciprocity lets attorneys apply out-of-state credits toward their local CLE requirement, but the rules vary widely — always check whether your state grants full, partial, or no reciprocity.

You confirm a CLE provider is accredited by checking whether it is approved under your jurisdiction’s CLE rules, whether it has a provider/sponsor ID or status, and whether your state’s CLE regulator lists it as an accredited provider.
This ensures your credits from that provider will reliably count toward your mandatory requirements.

How to Verify CLE Provider Accreditation

1. Consult your state’s CLE/MCLE regulatory body or CLE board

• The state’s CLE rules or website typically publish a roster or directory of approved providers or sponsors.
• The regulator may issue a provider or sponsor identification number to accredited entities—look for that on provider websites or course materials.

2. Look for course-level or provider-level accreditation status

• Providers often advertise “state-approved,” “CLE-accredited,” or “MCLE-approved” status for their courses—check that the claim names your specific state.
• For a given CLE event, see if the provider has submitted it for approval or already listed it with your state’s CLE board (some states require preapproval). For example, in Virginia, all CLE programs must be applied for review prior to approval.

3. Review official CLE rules and provider requirements

• The CLE rules of your jurisdiction typically state the criteria for accreditation and describe how providers are approved (e.g. submission of agenda, faculty credentials, materials).
  These are your baseline standards.
• Note: The ABA is not a CLE accreditor; CLE accreditation is done state by state.

4. Cross-check for consistency and legitimacy

• Check whether the provider appears in multiple jurisdictions’ approved lists (if they operate nationally) and whether they follow the rules for each state.
• Seek confirmation via official state CLE regulators rather than relying solely on the provider’s marketing claims.

Key Takeaway: A CLE provider is accredited only when approved under your state’s CLE system—verify by consulting the official regulator’s directory, looking for a provider/sponsor ID, and ensuring the provider follows your state’s accreditation procedures.

You currently do not report CLE credits in Maryland because there is no mandatory CLE or reporting requirement in effect.
The Maryland Supreme Court has continued reviewing whether to adopt mandatory CLE or a mandatory reporting system, but as of now attorneys are not required to certify CLE.

Overview of Maryland CLE Status

Maryland does not impose a mandatory CLE requirement for attorneys.
In December 2024, the Court voted to defer adoption of mandatory CLE or mandatory reporting.
Attorneys maintain professional competence under ethics rules but are not obligated to submit CLE compliance to the Bar.

Steps (If Reporting Were Required)

• No certification or reporting is currently required in Maryland.
• If mandatory CLE is adopted