The Minnesota Supreme Court announces multiple vacancies on the Minnesota State Board of Continuing Legal Education.  Applications are due April 19, 2024.  Additional information can be found here.

Date Posted: 3/21/2024

On October 5, 2023, the Minnesota State Board of Continuing Legal Education filed a petition recommending amendments to the Rules of the Minnesota Board of Continuing Legal Education to require all lawyers to report at least one credit on the topic of mental health and substance use in the legal profession and in the practice of law each reporting cycle.  On November 3, 2023, the Court placed the matter out for public comment.  Comments received supported the Petition.

On February 23, 2024, the Court amended the Board’s Rules to require one credit in this area per 3-year reporting cycle.  Category 1 lawyers due to report this year will not be required to submit this credit type.  Category 2 lawyers due to report in 2025 will be the first group of lawyers subject to this requirement.  The new Rules become effective July 1, 2024.

Additional information related to the implementation of this Rule will be available on the website within the next few months.

Date Posted: 3/14/2024

On September 29, 2023, the Minnesota Board of Continuing Legal Education petitioned the Court to amend the Rules of the Supreme Court on Lawyer Registration and the Rules of the Minnesota Board of Continuing Legal Education to allow for the office to place onto voluntary restricted status lawyers who elect a fee status of disability for the purpose of ensuring that the lawyer isn’t inadvertently placed on involuntary restricted status, which would cause the lawyer to no longer be in good standing.  On November 3, 2023, the Court issued an Order placing this matter out for public comment for 60 days.  On February 9, 2024, the Court issued an Order adopting the recommendation.

Date Posted: 2/13/2024

The State of Minnesota, through the Minnesota Board of Law Examiners, Minnesota Board of Continuing Legal Education, Minnesota Board of Legal Certification, and Lawyer Registration Office (collectively, the “Boards”), is using a competitive selection process to select the vendor responsible for the Boards’ managed IT services and to provide the on-site and remote maintenance, support, monitoring, security, and backup of the Boards’ network, servers, workstations, applications, and devices.  A copy of the Boards’ Request for Proposals (RFP) can be viewed here.  Any questions about the RFP must be submitted no later than Wednesday, February 21, 2024, 4:30 PM CST and vendor proposals must be received no later than Monday, April 1, 2024, 4:30 PM CDT.

Date Posted: 2/7/2024

In December 2020, the Minnesota Supreme Court issued an Order expanding the number of on-demand CLE credits a Minnesota lawyer may report towards their three year reporting period.  The Court Order expanded the number of credits from 15 to 30 of the required 45 credits, and further stated that on-demand credits would become unlimited as of January 1, 2024, unless good cause was shown by September 30, 2023, to not make that change.  On September 29, 2023, the Minnesota Board of Continuing Legal Education filed a letter with the Court providing additional information on the impact to live courses in Minnesota and suggested that the Court review whether the appropriate balance has already been struck.  On October 16, 2023, the Court issued an Order placing this matter out for public comment for 30 days.  No public comments were received.  On December 22, 2023, the Court issued an Order advising that the Court had carefully considered the issue and that the limit would expire.  Approved courses viewed after January 1, 2024, towards the 2024 reporting period (or later) are not subject to a credit cap.  On-demand courses must be approved for credit prior to the lawyer viewing the course for credit.

System changes are in place to allow lawyers to report credits through OASIS.

Posted: 1/10/2024; Updated: 3/14/2024

On-Demand:

In December 2020, the Minnesota Supreme Court issued an Order expanding the number of on-demand CLE credits a Minnesota lawyer may report towards their three year reporting period.  The Court Order expanded the number of credits from 15 to 30 of the required 45 credits, and further stated that on-demand credits would become unlimited as of January 1, 2024, unless good cause was shown by September 30, 2023, to not make that change.  On September 29, 2023, the Minnesota Board of Continuing Legal Education filed a letter with the Court providing additional information on the impact to live courses in Minnesota and suggested that the Court review whether the appropriate balance has already been struck.  On October 16, 2023, the Court issued an Order placing this matter out for public comment for 30 days.  Comments may be filed through the Clerk of the Appellate Courts Office and must be received by November 15, 2023.

Disability Status:

On September 29, 2023, the Minnesota Board of Continuing Legal Education petitioned the Court to amend the Rules of the Supreme Court on Lawyer Registration and the Rules of the Minnesota Board of Continuing Legal Education to allow for the office to place onto voluntary restricted status lawyers who elect a fee status of disability for the purpose of ensuring that the lawyer isn’t inadvertently placed on involuntary restricted status, which would cause the lawyer to no longer be in good standing.  On November 3, 2023, the Court issued an Order placing this matter out for public comment for 60 days.  Comments may be filed through the Clerk of the Appellate Courts Office and must be received by January 2, 2024.

Request to add mandatory credit category:

On October 5, 2023, the Minnesota Board of Continuing Legal Education petitioned the Court to amend the Rules of the Minnesota Board of Continuing Legal Education to require all Minnesota lawyers to take 1 credit of a course in mental health and substance use in the legal profession and in the practice of law.  On November 3, 2023, the Court issued an Order placing this matter out for public comment for 60 days.  Comments may be filed through the Clerk of the Appellate Courts Office and must be received by January 2, 2024.

Date Posted: 11/6/23

In December 2020, the Minnesota Supreme Court issued an Order expanding the number of on-demand CLE credits a Minnesota lawyer may report towards their three year reporting period.  The Court Order expanded the number of credits from 15 to 30 of the required 45 credits, and further stated that on-demand credits would become unlimited as of January 1, 2024, unless good cause was shown by September 30, 2023, to not make that change.  On September 29, 2023, the Minnesota Board of Continuing Legal Education filed a letter with the Court providing additional information on the impact to live courses in Minnesota and suggested that the Court review whether the appropriate balance has already been struck.  On October 16, 2023, the Court issued an Order placing this matter out for public comment for 30 days.  Comments may be filed through the Clerk of Courts Office.

Other News:

On September 29, 2023, the Minnesota Board of Continuing Legal Education petitioned the Court to amend the Rules of the Supreme Court on Lawyer Registration and the Rules of the Minnesota Board of Continuing Legal Education to allow for the office to place onto voluntary restricted status lawyers who elect a fee status of disability for the purpose of ensuring that the lawyer isn’t inadvertently placed on involuntary restricted status, which would cause the lawyer to no longer be in good standing.

On October 5, 2023, the Minnesota Board of Continuing Legal Education petitioned the Court to amend the Rules of the Minnesota Board of Continuing Legal Education to require all Minnesota lawyers to take 1 credit of a course in mental health and substance use in the legal profession and in the practice of law.

Date Posted: 10/17/2023

On Tuesday, December 22, 2020, the Minnesota Supreme Court issued an Order granting the Petition of five licensed Minnesota lawyers filed on August 7, 2019. Effective January 1, 2021, Rules 6D and 9B(4) are amended to permit lawyers to view and report up to 30 on-demand credits towards reporting periods ending after that date. Courses must be approved for credit prior to viewing per Rule 6D and must be viewed on or after January 1, 2021 if in excess of the 15 credits previously allowed under the Rules. The Court also advised that unless good cause is shown on or before September 30, 2023, the number of on-demand credits permitted will become unlimited as of January 1, 2024 for courses viewed and reported on or after that date. Live webinars continue to count as live courses and are not subject to the same limitations as on demand programs. If you have any questions, please contact the office at the clestaff@mbcle.state.mn.us.　

Date Posted: 12/23/2020