30 credit hours every 2 years, reported every 2 years. Verified against the IL bar or court authority.
| Total CLE required | 30 credit hours every 2 years |
|---|---|
| Ethics requirement | 6 hrs professional responsibility |
| Reporting cycle | Every 2 years |
| Bias / EDI credit | 1 hr diversity & inclusion |
| Wellness / mental health credit | 1 hr mental health / substance abuse |
| Online CLE accepted | Yes |
| Accreditation route | Approved (MCLE Board) |
Note: Both a mental-health hour and a diversity hour are mandated within the 6 PR hours.
Annualised, that is 15 hours per year, above the national median of 12 hours per year, placing Illinois 3rd of the 46 jurisdictions that mandate CLE.
Illinois recognises wellness or mental health credit. 1 hr mental health / substance abuse This is the most direct route to satisfying part of your requirement with substantive training rather than a box-ticking exercise. AWP programmes are built for exactly this category: live, taught by physicians, judges, and practising attorneys, and grounded in the neurobiology of cumulative stress rather than general wellness advice.
Illinois requires 30 hours every 2 years, of which 6 are earmarked for ethics. That leaves roughly 24 hours every 2 years that you choose the content for. Those are the hours in question.
National research found 28 percent of attorneys screening positive for depression, 19 percent for anxiety, and 21 percent for problematic drinking. The finding that surprised the profession was where 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.
Exposure is not evenly distributed across a bar. It follows the material. Judges absorb the same material from the bench without the advocate's protective sense of acting for someone. One study found 63 percent reporting at least one vicarious trauma symptom. Firms and offices in Illinois doing the judiciary carry more of this 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 Illinois is going to require the time anyway, it can be spent on the thing that is measurably breaking.
Illinois requires 30 credit hours every 2 years. Of that, the ethics requirement is 6 hrs professional responsibility. The reporting cycle runs every 2 years.
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.
Yes. Illinois recognises wellness or mental health credit: 1 hr mental health / substance abuse Attorney Wellness Project delivers live, accredited programming in this category, taught by attorneys, judges, physicians, and psychologists.
Approved (MCLE Board). Requirements change, so verify directly with the issuing authority before relying on any summary, including this one.
Accredited, live CLE in secondary traumatic stress, burnout, and professional resilience, delivered by 41 lawyers, judges, physicians, and psychologists. In person and virtual, nationwide.
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