When attorneys earn more than the required 15 hours in the 12-month compliance year, excess hours are “carried forward” to the next compliance year. Attorneys can carry forward one year’s worth of CLE credit.

If an attorney did not earn 15 hours (minimum three ethics and 12 general) in the previous 12-month compliance year, then hours will “carry back” sufficient to put the attorney in compliance for the  compliance year that is in a deficit.

For example, if an attorney earns eight of the 12 general hours needed for the 2024 compliance year, then the first four hours earned in 2025 will carry back to 2024 to put the attorney in compliance for 2024. The four hours earned in 2025 do not count toward 2025 compliance, because they were moved back to 2024 to make the attorney compliant for that year.