Florida Rule Change

UPDATE: On April 5, 2022, the Board of Governors voted to modify its CLE Diversity and Inclusion policy. While affirming the ABA’s strong commitment to diversity and inclusion and specifying that the ABA’s CLE programs and those the ABA co-sponsors continue to advance the aspirations of Goal III of the ABA’s Mission and Goals – to eliminate bias and enhance diversity – the policy removed the numerical component from the previous version, and is aspirational, as it does not prohibit providing credit for programs which do not meet the policy.

The Florida Bar has confirmed that the updated policy complies with the Florida Supreme Court’s ruling and credit will again be available for ABA programs for attorneys licensed in Florida. The updated ABA Diversity and Inclusion CLE policy is available online.

Attorneys who attended or spoke at an ABA program held prior to January 1, 2022 may self-apply to get the credits earned applied to their Florida account.

If an attendee is seeking only CLER credit (not certification credit), the attorney may email their ABA Certificate of Completion to [email protected]. If an attendee is seeking certification credit or is a speaker seeking lecture credit, forms to self-apply are found at: https://www.floridabar.org/member/cle/general-cle-info-and-requirements/cler-forms/.

Credit continues to be unavailable for on-demand courses that were completed between January 1, 2022 and April 4, 2022 (inclusive), unless the course was approved prior to April 15, 2021.

Courses completed after April 5, 2022 will be available for credit in Florida through ABA application or attorney self-submission.

UPDATE: On December 16, 2021, the Florida Supreme Court issued an amendment to their April 15, 2021 Order 21-284.

The American Bar Association appreciates the Florida Supreme Court’s consideration of comments from the American Bar Association and so many others concerning the ABA’s policies for Continuing Legal Education courses. While the ABA is disappointed in the opinion, we continue to believe the ABA’s CLE practices do not constitute a quota system. The ABA remains deeply committed to advancing diversity and inclusion in the legal profession. We will review the impact of this decision and consider whether changes are necessary to continue to bring more diversity and inclusion to our CLE programming.

This amendment to the original order, “in deference to Florida Bar members who planned their 2021 CLE activities in reliance on the preamendment status quo” postpones the effective date of the rule amendment to January 1, 2022.

Attorneys who attended or spoke at an ABA program held prior to January 1, 2022 may now self-apply to get the credits earned applied to their Florida account.

If an attendee is seeking only CLER credit (not certification credit), the attorney may email their ABA Certificate of Completion to [email protected]. If an attendee is seeking certification credit or is a speaker seeking lecture credit, forms to self-apply are found at: https://www.floridabar.org/member/cle/general-cle-info-and-requirements/cler-forms/.

The ABA is working with the Florida Bar MCLE Department to determine how we might assist our attendees with getting credits added to their accounts, but the most expeditious way is for attorneys to self-apply and report. Additional updates and communication with our Florida-barred and -resident attorneys will be provided shortly. 

UPDATE: On July 15, 2021, the American Bar Association filed its comments in response to the Florida Supreme Court opinion of April 15 that prevents The Florida Bar from accrediting continuing legal education (CLE) programs by organizations that have “quotas” for diversity in their CLE panels. Many other organizations and individuals also filed comments that align with the ABA’s comments.  The ABA’s comments address the court’s concerns and explain that the ABACLE Diversity and Inclusion Policy is one of inclusion, not exclusion.

On April 15, 2021 the Florida Supreme Court issued Order SC 21-284 (“Order”) that stated that it would no longer approve for continuing legal education any programs submitted by a sponsor that uses “quotas” based on race, ethnicity, gender, religion, national origin, disability, or sexual orientation in the selection of course faculty or participants (See Rule 6-10.3(d)). The Order invalidated the Florida Business Law Section’s policy, which is substantially the same as the ABA’s CLE Diversity and Inclusion Policy and has the effect of making the ABA’s CLE programs ineligible for CLE credit in Florida.  The Order was effective immediately and applied to any program that was still pending review with the bar.

Immediately after the Order was issued, we were informed that Florida attorneys could still self-apply for credit. On May 19, 2021, we learned that the Florida Bar regulators had changed their position and would not award credit to Florida attorneys who self-apply for CLE credit for ABA programs.  Florida Bar regulators have determined that they cannot, under the Order, approve a course by an organization with CLE diversity policies that the Florida Supreme Court deems to use “quotas” – which includes requests for credit by the sponsor, co-sponsor, or participant (speaker or attendee).

Florida Bar regulators have stated that attorneys will not receive Florida credit for any ABA program that was not approved prior to the date of the Florida Supreme Court order, even if they self-apply; speakers will not receive Florida credit for their participation in our programs; and, self-application forms submitted by attendees or speakers will not be approved.

Programs approved by Florida prior to the Order remain approved for Florida credit. This includes hundreds of ABA programs, including general, ethics, professionalism, substance abuse, mental illness awareness, bias elimination, and technology credits.