Montana CLE Requirements for Attorneys

All attorneys must complete 15 CLE credits every reporting year including at least 2 hours of Ethics and/or Professionalism. Attorneys are not required to complete any CLE credits during the reporting year in which they are admitted to the State Bar of Montana. For example, a Montana attorney admitted to the Bar in July 2020 does not have a CLE requirement for the reporting year 4/1/20 to 3/31/22. Their CLE requirement will begin on 4/1/18 and the full 15 credits of CLE must be completed by 3/31/23.

Attorneys can fulfill their CLE requirements by taking courses that have been approved and accredited by the Montana Commission of Continuing Legal Education. Some examples of approved courses formats include:

Live CLE (minimum 10 credits per reporting year)

• Live Webcasts
• In-person Seminars
• Telephone Conferences

Self-Study (maximum 5 credits per reporting year)

• On Demand Video or Audio Courses
• CD or DVD Recordings

Yes! Experienced Attorneys can receive Self-Study credit for:

• Teaching and Preparing to teach an approved CLE program including the preparation of the written materials
• Writing an article that appears in any law review published by an ABA-accredited law school
• Attending courses at an ABA-accredited law school after being admitted to the Montana Bar
• Attending in-house courses at a law firm

Note: MT attorneys can earn a maximum of 5 Self-Study credits per reporting year and each of the above activities is worth 1 CLE credit per hour spent. For example, a MT attorney who spends 2 hours preparing to teach an approved CLE program, 1 hour presenting an approved CLE program and 3 hours writing an article that appears in a law review during a reporting cycle could earn 2 CLE credit for preparing for the course, 1 CLE credit for presenting the course and 2 CLE credits for writing the article. The attorney could not earn a 3rd CLE credit for writing the article as they would have already reached the maximum of 5 Self-Study credits allowed in a single reporting year.

Attorneys must complete their CLE requirement by March 31st each year.

Yes! Up to 30 Live credits, including up to 4 Ethics credits, may be carried over into the next two reporting cycles. Credits earned On Demand or via another method cannot be carried over. Attorneys in Montana can start taking approved CLE courses for credit after being sworn-in, even before any CLE credits are due; the earned credits will be applied to their first reporting cycle.

Montana attorneys can complete all 15 credits on Lawline. Our Montana course catalog can be found here.

Attorneys can self apply for course accreditation on their Member Dashboard on the State Bar of Montana website. Attorneys will log in to their own dashboard and then select the "Report CLE Credits" option. That will take them directly to where they report their courses. 

Montana CLE FAQ Page

Credit Reporting Form

MT CLE Rules