Mandatory Continuing Legal Education Rule 6.1
Annual MCLE Requirement
From 1 July 2015, new CPD/CLE rules for NSW lawyers came into effect. The new continuing legal education rules for NSW lawyers are contained in the Legal Profession Uniform Continuing Professional Development (Solicitors) Rules 2015 under the Legal Profession Uniform Law. These rules take the place of MCLE Rule 57 of the NSW Professional Conduct and Practice Rules 2013.
MCLE Rule 6.1 requires all practitioners to complete at least 10 CLE points each year.
MCLE Compliance
NSW lawyers can earn CPD units in many ways including attending legal seminars or legal conferences, preparing an article for publication, or completing a multimedia or web-based program.
LawCPD’s online CLE courses are categorised as a web-based program under Rule 6.1. This means NSW lawyers can earn 1 CLE point per hour and all 10 CLE points each year by completing LawCPD’s online CLE courses.
Rule 6.1 Mandatory CLE Areas
MCLE Rule 6.1 requires that NSW practitioners complete at least 1 CLE point in each of the following mandatory continuing legal education fields:
- ethics and professional responsibility (MCLE Rule 6.1.1)
- practice management and business skills (MCLE Rule 6.1.2)
- professional skills (MCLE Rule 6.1.3)
- substantive law (MCLE Rule 6.1.4)
How LawCPD Can Help
LawCPD offers NSW lawyers online CLE courses in each of the four mandatory fields set out in MCLE Rule 6.1. The links below provide quick access to the list of online CLE courses offered in each field:
- Online CLE courses covering "ethics and professional responsibility"
- Online CLE courses covering "practice management and business skills"
- Online CLE courses covering "professional skills"
- Online CLE courses covering "substantive law"
If you would like to learn more about how NSW lawyers can earn continuing legal education points with LawCPD, click here.