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CLE Requirements by State · HI

Hawaii CLE Requirements for attorneys

approximately 3 credit hours per year, reported every year. Verified against the HI bar or court authority.

Hawaii at a glance

Total CLE requiredapproximately 3 credit hours per year
Ethics requirementincluded
Reporting cycleEvery year
Online CLE acceptedYes
Accreditation routeApproved

Note: Requirements are modest; verify exact hours with the bar.

Verify current HI requirements at the source ↗

How Hawaii compares

Hawaii requires 3 hours every year. That is on the lighter end. 45 of the 46 mandating jurisdictions ask for more.

Hawaii does not carry a separate wellness or mental health category. Wellness and secondary trauma training is generally applied toward the general credit requirement here. That puts wellness training in the largest credit category bucket. Of the 51 United States jurisdictions, 16 recognize wellness or mental health credit specifically and 16 mandate bias or inclusion credit, which means most attorneys satisfy this kind of training as general hours.

Why wellness credit is worth the hours in Hawaii

Hawaii requires 3 hours each year. That leaves roughly 3 hours each year that you choose the content for. Those are the hours in question.

The risk concentrates early in a career

The 2026 national study of 39,036 lawyers found that 47.5 percent reported high or very high work-related burnout, and that moderate or higher symptoms of depression, anxiety and stress ran at 21.6, 20.4 and 18.9 percent. The earlier 2016 study had found something that surprised the profession: the risk concentrated among younger attorneys and those in their first ten years. The prior assumption ran the other way. It is shaping the careers of the people a firm has most recently invested in.

Where it concentrates in Hawaii

Exposure follows the material rather than the job title, and it is not only the attorneys and advocates who carry it. Juvenile and dependency practice combines high caseloads with material involving children, a combination the literature identifies as particularly corrosive for attorneys, guardians ad litem, and caseworkers alike. Firms, offices, and courts in Hawaii whose work runs through material like this carry more of it than a general commercial practice does, and their training needs differ accordingly.

These are competence issues, not comfort issues. They surface as missed deadlines, degraded judgment on live matters, ethics complaints, and the departure of lawyers a firm has already paid to train. If Hawaii is going to require the time anyway, it can be spent on the thing that is measurably breaking.

See what burnout actually costs a legal organization →

Hawaii CLE questions

How many CLE hours does Hawaii require?

Hawaii requires approximately 3 credit hours per year. Of that, the ethics requirement is included. The reporting cycle runs every year.

Does Hawaii accept online CLE?

Yes. Rules on self-study versus live or interactive formats vary, and newly admitted attorneys are often held to stricter requirements than experienced ones. Confirm with the accrediting authority before enrolling.

Can wellness or secondary trauma CLE count in Hawaii?

Hawaii does not maintain a separate wellness or mental health credit category. Such programming is generally applied toward general credit. Many states permit self-application of general credit using a certificate of attendance; confirm the process with the accrediting authority.

Who accredits CLE in Hawaii?

Approved. Requirements change, so verify directly with the issuing authority before relying on any summary, including this one.

Other jurisdictions

Idaho · Illinois · Indiana · Georgia · Florida · District of Columbia

Search and filter all 51 jurisdictions →

Hawaii requires the hours. We teach what matters.

Accredited, live CLE in secondary traumatic stress, work-related burnout, and career sustainability, delivered by 41 lawyers, judges, physicians, psychologists, and coaches. In person and virtual, nationwide.

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