12 credit hours per year, reported every year (oct 31). Verified against the VA bar or court authority.
| Total CLE required | 12 credit hours per year |
|---|---|
| Ethics requirement | 2 hrs |
| Reporting cycle | Every year (Oct 31) |
| Online CLE accepted | Yes |
| Accreditation route | Approved (Virginia MCLE Board) |
Note: AWP base state; includes a professionalism component.
Annualised, that is 12 hours per year, exactly at the national median of 12 hours per year.
Virginia 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 is not a lesser category: it is the largest one. Of the 51 United States jurisdictions, 16 recognise 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.
Virginia requires 12 hours each year, of which 2 are earmarked for ethics. That leaves roughly 10 hours each year that you choose the content for. Those are the hours in question.
Research into lawyer suicidality found perceived stress to be the single strongest predictor, with lawyers reporting high stress 22 times more likely to contemplate suicide than those reporting low stress. The same body of work found that lawyers in environments valuing professionalism and humanity over productivity and constant availability were measurably healthier.
Exposure is not evenly distributed across a bar. It follows the material. Juvenile and dependency practice combines high caseloads with material involving children, a combination the literature identifies as particularly corrosive. Firms and offices in Virginia doing juvenile and dependency work 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 Virginia is going to require the time anyway, it can be spent on the thing that is measurably breaking.
Virginia requires 12 credit hours per year. Of that, the ethics requirement is 2 hrs. The reporting cycle runs every year (oct 31).
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.
Virginia 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.
Approved (Virginia MCLE Board). Requirements change, so verify directly with the issuing authority before relying on any summary, including this one.
Washington · West Virginia · Wisconsin · Vermont · Utah · Texas
Accredited, live CLE in secondary traumatic stress, burnout, and professional resilience, delivered by 41 lawyers, judges, physicians, and psychologists. In person and virtual, nationwide.
Schedule a Consultation See CLE Programs