Washington State Court Rules (Rule 11)

1. A course must have significant intellectual or practical content designed to maintain or improve a lawyer’s, LLLT’s, or LPO’s professional knowledge or skills, competence, character, or fitness;
2. Presenters must be qualified by practical or academic experience or expertise in the subjects presented and not disbarred from the practice of law in any jurisdiction;
3. Written materials in either electronic or hardcopy format must be distributed to all lawyers, LLLTs, and LPOs before or at the time the course is presented.  Written materials must be timely and must cover those matters that one would expect for a professional treatment of the subject.  Any marketing materials must be separate from the written subject matter materials;
4. The physical setting must be suitable to the course and free from unscheduled interruption;
5. A course must be at least 30 minutes in duration;
6. A course must be open to audit by the Bar or the MCLE Board at no charge except in cases of government-sponsored closed seminars where the reason is approved by the Bar;
7. Presenters, teachers, panelists, etc. are prohibited from engaging in marketing during the presentation of the course;
8. A course must not focus directly on a pending legal case, action, or matter currently being handled by the sponsor if the sponsor is a lawyer, LLLT, or LPO, private law firm, corporate legal department, legal services provider, or government agency; and
9. A course cannot have attendance restrictions based on race, color, national origin, marital status, religion, creed, gender, age, disability, or sexual orientation.

Limit on credit hours for recorded programs: Washington no longer has a live credit requirement as of January 1, 2016. Attorneys can earn all credits through approved live programs, recorded products, or other approved methods of earning credit such as writing and teaching. See the Washington State Bar Association website below for additional approved methods and pertinent requirements.

45 credit hours per 3 years.

1. at least 15 credits must be from attending approved courses in the subject of law and legal procedure, as defined in subsection (f)(1); and

Law and legal procedure, defined as legal education relating to substantive law, legal procedure, process, research, writing, analysis, or related skills and technology;

2. at least six credits must be in ethics and professional responsibility, as defined in subsection (f)(2).

Ethics and professional responsibility, defined as topics relating to the general subject of professional responsibility and conduct standards for lawyers, LLLTs, LPOs, and judges, including diversity and antibias with respect to the practice of law or the legal system, and the risks to ethical practice associated with diagnosable mental health conditions, addictive behavior, and stress;

60 minutes per credit hour

1. Review APR 11 sections (e) through (h) and (j).
2. Register as a sponsor if you have not applied before.
3. Submit a $100 application fee for each course.
   • Note: Government agencies and Nonprofit organizations are not required to pay the application fee when a course is offered for free.  Contact us for more information.
4. Applications are due 15 days prior to the start date of the course to avoid a $50 late fee (applies to all sponsors).
5. All courses must be at least 30 minutes in duration.
6. Credit categories are:
   • Law & Legal - Law and legal procedure as defined in APR 11(f)(1).
   • Ethics - Ethics and professional responsibility as defined in APR 11(f)(2).
   • Other - This is for all categories in APR 11(f)(3) through (f)(7).
7. Sponsors must provide each participant with an evaluation form to complete.

Duplicating an Approved Course and Creating a Recorded Course from an Approved Live Course

All sponsors may duplicate and receive automatic approval for another occurrence of an approved course if it is to be presented no later than 12 months from the original presentation date. Sponsors may also duplicate approved live courses to create recorded versions. The duplicate must be submitted at least one day before the presentation, if live, and the content and faculty must be identical to the original course. Duplicate activities do not have an application fee.

• For sponsors of courses for lawyers: Create a duplicate course on the MCLE system, for each subsequent presentation.
• For sponsors of courses for LPOs and LLLTs: Email the MCLE Team the original activity ID to be duplicated.

Length of reporting period: 3 years

Compliance date: December 31

Reporting date: February 1

Accredited Sponsors.  The Bar may approve and accredit sponsoring organizations as “accredited sponsors” subject to procedures and fees established by the Bar.  Accredited sponsors have the same duties as sponsors but have the additional responsibility of approving their own courses and determining appropriate MCLE credit in accordance with this rule.  Accredited sponsors pay an annual flat fee for all course applications submitted in lieu of an application fee for each individual course.