MCLE Board

Licensed legal professionals in the state of Washington are required to continue their legal education throughout their careers in order to remain eligible to practice law. The Mandatory Continuing Legal Education (MCLE) Board plays a critical role in defining and determining compliance with the minimum education requirements. The Board meets five times a year to consider MCLE policy issues and review requests from legal professionals, including requests for waiver and extension of time to meet their minimum education requirements, and holds hearings on denied requests.

Board Members

Ayanna Colman, Chair  │  Todd Alberstone  │  M. Christopher Bueter  │  Merri Hartse  │  Robert Malae  │  Melissa Skelton  │ Asia N. Wright

BOG Liaisons: Sunitha Anjilvel  │  Russell Knight

Contact the MCLE Board and Staff Liaison at MCLE@wsba.org

Suggested Amendment to APR 11

The Washington Supreme Court is seeking comments a proposed change to Admission and Practice Rule (APR) 11 that would require licensed legal professionals to devote at least one of six mandated ethics credits per reporting period to the topic of “equity, inclusion, and the mitigation of bias in the legal profession and practice of law.” The suggested amendment is sponsored by the MCLE Board with support from WSBA Board of Governors. The MCLE Board appreciates all the input provided thus far and encourages everyone – even those who have previously commented – to provide their comments to the Court at this time..

Summary of the Current Suggested Amendment:

The MCLE Board is recommending a related but much narrower amendment to the rule to focus on equity, inclusion, and the mitigation of bias.

The suggested amendment to APR 11 would require that each licensed legal professional complete at least one (1) ethics credit in the topic of equity, inclusion and the mitigation of bias per each three-year MCLE reporting period. The suggested amendment would not increase the total number of ethics hours required, nor prevent legal professionals from earning additional ethics credits on other topics, which would also count toward the 45 total required credits. Please see the GR 9 Coversheet for more detailed information.

Timeline:

• On Sept. 18, 2020, the MCLE Board presented the suggested amendment, their report and recommendation, and collected public comments to the WSBA Board of Governors for their review. The Board of Governors voted to support the MCLE Board’s suggested amendment.
• On Oct. 15, 2020, the MCLE Board submitted the suggested amendment to the Washington Supreme Court.
• On Jan. 8, 2021, the Washington Supreme Court ordered that the suggested amendment be published on the Washington Reports, Washington Register, Washington State Bar Association, and the Administrative Office of the Court's websites in January 2021.

Quick Links:

• Washington Supreme Court Order Publishing Suggested Amendment for Comment
• GR 9 Coversheet (Includes Suggested Amendment and Previously Collected Comments)
• MCLE Board Report and Recommendation
• Letter of Support from WSBA Board of Governors
• Stakeholder Feedback Received as of Aug. 4, 2020
• Suggested Amendment to APR 11

   

  Previously Rejected Suggested Amendment:

• The MCLE Board previously sent a suggested amendment of the ethics requirement to the Washington Supreme Court in 2019, which was rejected.

Meeting Dates and Minutes

Contact Us

Please direct all correspondence, petitions, notices, and other written communications to:

Washington State Bar Association
MCLE Board
1325 Fourth Ave., Suite 600
Seattle, WA 98101-2539

Please submit all requests and notices to the MCLE Board in writing. Requests and petitions must be received two weeks prior to a board meeting in order to be placed on that meeting's agenda.

To request a MCLE Petition of Undue Hardship, please contact our MCLE Team at 206-733-5987, or email us at mcle@wsba.org.