Hours must be completed by 11:59:59 on December 31 of each compliance year.

Your provider will report your attendance based on when you COMPLETE a course. If you begin an on-hour course at 11:45 p.m. on 12/31 and complete it at 12:45 a.m. on 1/1, that hour is considered earned on 1/1.

You will owe a $100 non-completion fee, and you will still be required to complete the required hours.  The hours you earn following the close of the compliance year will first go toward your prior year shortage, then will count toward the new compliance year.

The CLE compliance year runs from January 1 to December 31. Compliance must be obtained by December 31 or you will be assessed a $100.00 penalty.  If you qualify for an exemption,you can claim the exemption on the Annual Report Statement you will receive in February after the close of compliance year without penalty. Your exemption must be received by March 31 to avoid the late penalty.

Whether payment is required by the provider or an attorney, the two dollar ($2.00) per credit hour posting fee must be paid before the attendance will be counted toward compliance. 

Yes, but you must first complete your CLE and pay any outstanding fees.  

You will need send us the Affidavit of Compliance (AOC) listing the credits you have earned that will put you in compliance along with proof of payment of any outstanding fees.  

The Affidavit of Compliance can be emailed, faxed, hand delivered or mailed. Please only send it to us once.  

If time is of the essence, do not place it in the mailbox and hope it gets to us in time. It is your repsonsibility to make sure the CLE courses listed on the Affidavit get posted to you account within 30 days of your completing the course.

December 31 -- the deadline for earning hours without $100 late fee.

February 28 -- the Annual Report Statement ("ARS") is mailed to attorneys.

March 31 -- the ARS must be completed and received by the Commission by attorneys reporting hours or claiming an exemption. (Attorneys whose white ARS shows sufficient hours and no fee due do not have to return the ARS.)  Documents mailed, hand delivered, faxed or e-mailed to the CLE Commission must be received by close of business March 31 (4:30 PM Central Time)

April 30-- Notices of Non-Completion and Affidavits of Completion are sent certified mail to non-compliant attorneys with insufficient hours or owing fees.

May 31 -- May 31 is the deadline for establishing compliance by filing the Affidavit of Completion or claiming a valid exemption.   Compliance means the hours necessary for compliance have been earned or a valid exemption has been claimed and all fees have been paid to the CLE Commission.   Documents hand delivered, faxed or e-mailed to the CLE Commission must be received by close of business May 31 (4:30 PM Central Time) unless this date falls on Saturday, Sunday or a legal holiday and then it must be received by the close of business (4:30 PM Central Time) the following Monday. Failure to comply with this deadline will result in the imposition of the $200.00 delinquent compliance penalty.

June 1 -- $200 late fee assessed to non-compliant attorneys who have not filed Affidavit of Completion and paid all fees due.

June 28 -- Draft Suspension Order sent certified mail to non-compliant attorneys.

August 8 -- Deadline for filing Affidavit of Completion and paying all fees to avoid being included on the Suspension Order submitted to the Tennessee Supreme Court.

August 15 – the Final Suspension Order is submitted to the Tennessee Supreme Court. Attorneys not in active status with BPR will be placed in suspended status and a $500 suspension fee is assessed.  Upon entry of the Suspension Order by the Court, the $500 suspension fee will be assessed to noncompliant active status attorneys, those attorneys will be moved to suspended status, and a copy of the Suspension Order will be mailed to all Courts in Tennessee. See Rule 21 §7.

Fees can be waived only when they were assessed erroneously and the attorney was in CLE compliance by December 31 (all hours were earned and all fees were paid).  See Rule 21 § 7. 

An attorney may request a waiver of fees in exceptional circumstances by completing the Request For Substitute Program/Request for Exceptional Relief found on the CLE website under For Attorneys View ALL Forms.  See Rule 21 § 2.04