Effective May 1, 2026, Minnesota lawyers ages 62-67 may now elect retirement status if they agree to provide at least 20 hours of pro bono legal representation through an approved legal provider on an annual basis. Additional information on electing retired emeritus status is available on the CLE website. View the March 26, 2026, Order promulgating these amendments.

On March 7, 2025, 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 revise the current limitations on in-house programming.  On November 5, 2025, the Court issued an Order Promulgating Amendments to the Rules of the Minnesota State Board of Continuing Legal Education approving the Petition and amending Rule 5B.  Effective January 1, 2026, a course will be approved if it meets the CLE requirements for any other course and if the sponsoring law firm certifies that it does not cover content that is covered by attorney-client privilege.  Courses held prior to January 1, 2026, remain limited by the existing in-house rule language.

Date Posted: 11/24/2025

The Minnesota Supreme Court seeks two public members to serve on the Minnesota State Board of Continuing Legal Education.  The three-year term began July 1, 2025, and runs through June 30, 2028.  The CLE Board meets four times a year.  Board members may attend in person in St. Paul or remotely by Zoom.  The Board oversees the continuing legal education and lawyer registration requirements for Minnesota licensed lawyers.  If interested in additional information about the Board, please contact us at clestaff@mbcle.state.mn.us.

Date Posted: 3/4/2025; updated 4/28/2025 and 11/24/2025

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.

Date Posted: 3/14/2024; updated 11/24/2025

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

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