MCLE REQUIREMENT Who are required to comply with the MCLE requirement?

MCLE is required of members of the Integrated Bar of the Philippines (IBP), unle ss exempted. (Bar Matter No. 850, as revised) Who are exempted from the MCLE requirement? a. The President and the Vice President of the Philippines, and the Secreta ries and Undersecretaries of Executive Departments; b. Senators and Members of the House of Representatives; c. The Chief Justice and Associate Justices of the Supreme Court, incumbent and retired members of the judiciary, incumbent members of the Judicial and Bar Council and incumbent court lawyers covered by the Philippine Judicial Academy program of continuing judicial education; d. The Chief State Counsel, Chief State Prosecutor and Assistant Secretarie s of the Department of Justice; e. The Solicitor General and the Assistant Solicitors General; f. The Government Corporate Counsel, Deputy and Assistant Government Corpor ate Counsel; g. The Chairmen and Members of the Constitutional Commissions; h. The Ombudsman, the Overall Deputy Ombudsman, the Deputy Ombudsman and th e Special Prosecutor of the Office of the Ombudsman; i. Heads of government agencies exercising quasi-judicial functions; j. Incumbent deans, bar reviewers and professors of law who have teaching e xperience for at least ten (10) years in accredited law schools; k. The Chancellor, Vice-Chancellor and members of the Corps of Professors a nd Professorial Lecturers of the Philippine Judicial Academy; and l. Governors and Mayors; m. Others 1. Those who are not in law practice, private or public. 2. Those who have retired from law practice with the approval of the IBP Bo ard of Governors. 3. Those exempted for good cause (such as physical disability, illness, pos t graduate study abroad, proven expertise in law, etc.), subject to the rules an d procedure established by the MCLE Committee (Bar Matter No. 850, as revised) What is the requirement for completion of MCLE? All lawyers not exempted shall complete the following thirty-six (36) hours of M CLE subjects every three (3) years: Legal Ethics 6 hours/credit units Trial and Pretrial Skills 4 hours/credit units Alternative Dispute Resolution 5 hours/credit units Updates on Substantive and Procedural Law and Jurisprudence 9 hours/credit u nits Legal Writing and Oral Advocacy 4 hours/credit units International Law and International Conventions 2 hours/credit units MCLE Prescribed Subjects 6 hours/credit units What constitutes non-compliance? a. Failure to complete the education requirement within the compliance peri od; b. Failure to provide attestation of compliance or exemption; c. Failure to provide satisfactory evidence of compliance (including eviden ce of exempt status) within the prescribed period; d. Failure to satisfy the education requirement and furnish evidence of suc h compliance within sixty (60) days from receipt of non-compliance notice; e. Failure to pay non-compliance fee within the prescribed period; f. Any other act or omission analogous to any of the foregoing or intended to circumvent or evade compliance with the MCLE requirements. What happens when a lawyer fails to complete the education/credit unit requireme nts within the compliance period?

Lawyers failing to comply will receive a Non-Compliance Notice stating the speci fic deficiency and will be given sixty (60) days from the date of notification t o attain the adequate number of credit units for compliance. Credit units earned during this period may only be counted toward compliance with the prior complia nce period requirement unless units in excess of the requirement are earned, in which case the excess may be counted toward meeting the current compliance perio d requirement. What is the consequence of non-compliance? A lawyer who, for whatever reason, is in non-compliance at the end of the compli ance period shall pay a non-compliance fee. Further, if he fails to comply with the requirements after the sixty (60) day pe riod for compliance has expired, he shall be listed as a delinquent member of th e IBP and shall not be permitted to practice law. An investigation of a member f or non-compliance shall be conducted by the IBPs Commission on Bar Discipline as a fact-finding arm of the MCLE Committee. MCLE COMPLIANCE: What are the MCLE compliance periods? 1st Compliance Period: April 15, 2001 up to April 14, 2004 2nd Compliance Period: April 15, 2004 up to April 14, 2007 3rd Compliance Period: April 15, 2007 up to April 14, 2010 4th Compliance Period: April 15, 2010 up to April 14, 2013 All lawyers are now required to complete the 4th MCLE compliance until April 14, 2013. What is the rule on new bar passers? MCLE Governing Board Order No. 1, s. 2008, provides: . . . lawyers who pass the Bar when only four (4) months or less remain of the co mpliance period, are exempted from complying with the MCLE requirement for the s aid compliance period. They shall comply with the MCLE requirements for the next compliance period. However, lawyers who are admitted to the Bar either one (1) year after the start of the current compliance period, or two (2) years after the start of the said compliance period, are required to comply with the MCLE requirements in accordan ce with the MCLE Governing Board resolution dated October 20, 2004, i.e. those a dmitted one year after the start of the current compliance period must comply wi th two-thirds (2/3) if the credit units required (24 c.u.) for that period; whil e those admitted two (2) years after the start of the compliance period should c omply with one-third (1/3) of the required credit unit (12 c.u.)ho needs to compl y with only 12 or 24 units may not take any subject that he chooses. Those who need to comply with only 12 units must take the following subjects: Prescribed Subjects (any) 3 units Legal Ethics 2 units Alternative Dispute Resolution 4 units Trial and Pre-Trial Skills 3 units Lawyers who need to comply with only 24 units must take the following subjects: Substantive Law 6 units Prescribed Subjects (any) 4 units Legal Ethics 4 units Alternative Dispute Resolution 3 units Legal Writing and Oral Advocacy 3 units Trial and Pre-Trial Skills 3 units International Law 1 unit What is the requirement of indicating MCLE compliance in pleadings? As of January 1, 2009, all lawyers are required to indicate the number and date of issue of their MCLE Certificate of Compliance. Failure to indicate such will result to the dismissal of the case and the expunction of the pleadings from the records. (Bar Matter No. 1922, as amended)