Ohio attorneys with last names beginning in A-L have until Dec. 31 to complete education requirements.

Ohio attorneys with last names beginning in A-L have until Dec. 31 to complete education requirements.

Attorneys registered in Ohio with last names beginning with the letters A through L have less than two weeks to complete their continuing legal education (CLE) hours.

The Dec. 31 deadline is for the current biennial compliance period that covers 2014-2015.

Ohio’s attorneys are split in two groups according to the alphabetical listing of their last name, with this half of registered attorneys and judges required to earn their hours by the end of every odd-numbered year.

The Ohio Supreme Court adopted changes that took effect in January 2014 that doubled the number of online credit hours attorneys could earn, allowed attorneys to earn a portion of their CLE hours by engaging in approved pro bono activities, and eliminated the requirement to file final reporting transcripts.

• Attorneys are required to complete 24 CLE hours every two years including 2.5 hours of “attorney professional conduct” credit.
• Magistrates and acting judges have the same requirement as attorneys but, as part of their overall 24-hour requirement, must complete 10 hours of instruction offered by the Ohio Supreme Court Judicial College.
• Judges, part-time judges, and retired judges who are eligible for assignment are required to complete 40 hours every two years, including 10 hours of instruction offered by the Judicial College. As part of their 10-hour Judicial College requirement, judges are required to complete 3 hours of “judicial conduct” credit. Judges can only earn those “judicial conduct” hours from the Judicial College.

Attorneys, magistrates, and judges can view their current CLE record by going to the Supreme Court Attorney Services Portal.