If you were sworn in prior to September 1, you must complete the full 15-hour CLE obligation for the year. If you were sworn in on or after September 1, your CLE obligation begins the year after you were activated.
The Commission awards 12 General credits and 3 Dual credits for passing the bar examination of any state or upon passage of the Uniform Bar Examination. You will receive CLE credit for passing the bar in the first year you have a CLE obligation. See Tenn. Sup. Ct. R. 21 § 4.06. Attorneys who pass the February Tennessee bar exam receive full CLE credit for that year and must earn CLE starting the following year. Because July Tennessee bar exam results are typically released in October, attorneys who pass the July bar exam do not have a CLE obligation that year, but they are provided full CLE credit the following year.
Attorneys who pass the UBE administered by another state receive bar exam credit when they become licensed in Tennessee, provided the bar exam was within the last two years.
You can receive bar exam credit only once in any compliance year. If you received credit for passing the Tennessee bar exam this year, you will not be able to receive credit for the bar exam you passed in another state.
An attorney can also receive up to one year’s CLE credit for completing a bar exam preparation course, but their attendance must be verified by the provider of the course. Please keep in mind that an attorney cannot receive both bar review course credit and bar passage credit in the same year. See Tenn. Sup. Ct. R. 21 §§ 4.06, 4.08(f).