North Carolina Administrative Code › Title 27 - STATE BAR › Chapter 01 - RULES AND REGULATIONS FOR THE NORTH CAROLINA STATE BAR › Subchapter D - RULES OF THE STANDING COMMITTEES OF THE NORTH CAROLINA STATE BAR › Section .1500 - RULES GOVERNING THE ADMINISTRATION OF THE CONTINUING LEGAL EDUCATION PROGRAM › Section 01D .1501 - SCOPE, PURPOSE AND DEFINITIONS

Current through Register Vol. 39, No. 2, July 15, 2024
(a) Scope
Except as provided herein, these rules shall apply to every
					 active member licensed by the North Carolina State Bar.
(b) Purpose
The purpose of these continuing legal education rules is to
					 assist lawyers licensed to practice and practicing law in North Carolina in
					 achieving and maintaining professional competence for the benefit of the public
					 whom they serve. The North Carolina State Bar, under Chapter 84 of the General
					 Statutes of North Carolina, is charged with the responsibility of providing
					 rules of professional conduct and with disciplining attorneys who do not comply
					 with such rules. The Revised Rules of Professional Conduct adopted by the North
					 Carolina State Bar and approved by the Supreme Court of North Carolina require
					 that lawyers adhere to important ethical standards, including that of rendering
					 competent legal services in the representation of their clients.
At a time when all aspects of life and society are changing
					 rapidly or becoming subject to pressures brought about by change, laws and
					 legal principles are also in transition (through additions to the body of law,
					 modifications and amendments) and are increasing in complexity. One cannot
					 render competent legal services without continuous education and
					 training.
The same changes and complexities, as well as the economic
					 orientation of society, result in confusion about the ethical requirements
					 concerning the practice of law and the relationships it creates. The data
					 accumulated in the discipline program of the North Carolina State Bar argue
					 persuasively for the establishment of a formal program for continuing and
					 intensive training in professional responsibility and legal ethics.
It has also become clear that in order to render legal
					 services in a professionally responsible manner, a lawyer must be able to
					 manage his or her law practice competently. Sound management practices enable
					 lawyers to concentrate on their clients' affairs while avoiding the ethical
					 problems which can be caused by disorganization.
It is in response to such considerations that the North
					 Carolina State Bar has adopted these minimum continuing legal education
					 requirements. The purpose of these minimum continuing legal education
					 requirements is the same as the purpose of the Revised Rules of Professional
					 Conduct themselves-to ensure that the public at large is served by lawyers who
					 are competent and maintain high ethical standards.
(c) Definitions
(1) "Active member" shall include any person
				  who is licensed to practice law in the state of North Carolina and who is an
				  active member of the North Carolina State Bar.
(2) "Administrative Committee" shall mean the
				  Administrative Committee of the North Carolina State Bar.
(3) "Approved program" shall mean a specific,
				  individual educational program approved as a continuing legal education program
				  under these rules by the Board of Continuing Legal Education.
(4) "Board" means the Board of Continuing
				  Legal Education created by these rules.
(5) "Continuing legal education" or "CLE" is
				  any legal, judicial or other educational program accredited by the board.
				  Generally, CLE will include educational programs designed principally to
				  maintain or advance the professional competence of lawyers and/or to expand an
				  appreciation and understanding of the professional responsibilities of
				  lawyers.
(6) "Council" shall mean
				  the North Carolina State Bar Council.
(7) "Credit hour" means an increment of time
				  of 60 minutes which may be divided into segments of 30 minutes or 15 minutes,
				  but no smaller.
(8) "Inactive
				  member" shall mean a member of the North Carolina State Bar who is on inactive
				  status.
(9) "In-house continuing
				  legal education" shall mean courses or programs offered or conducted by law
				  firms, either individually or in connection with other law firms, corporate
				  legal departments, or similar entities primarily for the education of their
				  members. The board may exempt from this definition those programs which it
				  finds
(A) to be conducted by public or
				  quasi-public organizations or associations for the education of their employees
				  or members;
(B) to be concerned
				  with areas of legal education not generally offered by sponsors of programs
				  attended by lawyers engaged in the private practice of law.
(10) A "newly admitted active
				  member" is one who becomes an active member of the North Carolina State Bar for
				  the first time, has been reinstated, or has changed from inactive to active
				  status.
(11) "On demand" program
				  shall mean an accredited educational program accessed via the internet that is
				  available at any time on a provider's website and does not include live
				  programming.
(12) "Online" program
				  shall mean an accredited educational program accessed through a computer or
				  telecommunications system such as the internet and can include simultaneously
				  broadcast and on demand programming.
(13) "Participatory CLE" shall mean programs
				  or segments of programs that encourage the participation of attendees in the
				  educational experience through, for example, the analysis of hypothetical
				  situations, role playing, mock trials, roundtable discussions, or
				  debates.
(14) "Professional
				  responsibility" shall mean those programs or segments of programs devoted to a)
				  the substance, underlying rationale, and practical application of the Rules of
				  Professional Conduct; b) the professional obligations of the lawyer to the
				  client, the court, the public, and other lawyers; c) moral philosophy and
				  ethical decision-making in the context of the practice of law; and d) the
				  effects of stress, substance abuse and chemical dependency, or debilitating
				  mental conditions on a lawyer's professional responsibilities and the
				  prevention, detection, treatment, and etiology of stress, substance abuse,
				  chemical dependency, and debilitating mental conditions. This definition shall
				  be interpreted consistent with the provisions of Rule .1501(c)(4) or (6)
				  above.
(15) "Professionalism"
				  programs are programs or segments of programs devoted to the identification and
				  examination of, and the encouragement of adherence to, non-mandatory
				  aspirational standards of professional conduct which transcend the requirements
				  of the Rules of Professional Conduct. Such programs address principles of
				  competence and dedication to the service of clients, civility, improvement of
				  the justice system, diversity of the legal profession and clients, advancement
				  of the rule of law, service to the community, and service to the disadvantaged
				  and those unable to pay for legal services.
(16) "Registered sponsor" shall mean an
				  organization that is registered by the board after demonstrating compliance
				  with the accreditation standards for continuing legal education programs as
				  well as the requirements for reporting attendance and remitting sponsor fees
				  for continuing legal education programs.
(17) "Rules" shall mean the provisions of the
				  continuing legal education rules established by the Supreme Court of North
				  Carolina (Section .1500 of this subchapter).
(18) "Sponsor" is any person or entity
				  presenting or offering to present one or more continuing legal education
				  programs, whether or not an accredited sponsor.
(19) "Technology training" shall mean a
				  program, or a segment of a program, devoted to education on information
				  technology (IT) or cybersecurity (see N.C. Gen. Stat. §
											143B-1320(a)(11),
				  or successor statutory provision, for a definition of "information
				  technology"), including education on an information technology product, device,
				  platform, application, or other tool, process, or methodology. To be eligible
				  for CLE accreditation as a technology training program, the program must
				  satisfy the accreditation standards in Rule .1519 and the course content
				  requirements in Rule .1602(e) of this subchapter.
(20) "Year" shall mean calendar
				  year.