- How does this work?
- In structuring these online CLE seminars, we have tried to retain as much as possible the key elements of a traditional CLE seminar. For example, we have a Seminar Materials Library for each seminar that contains the prepared materials that comprise the source documents for the subject matter of the seminar. This would include the types of materials that would typically be found in the course notebook that you would receive at the beginning of a traditional CLE seminar. The written materials can either be viewed online or downloaded to your local computer and printed for reviewing offline, if you so choose.
For most of our seminars, the Seminar Materials Library will also contain audio and/or video materials that you can access on demand. These materials can be accessed at any time of day throughout the course of the seminar session as streaming audio/video files on our site. Seminars that contain audio or video materials will include a small audio or video icon in the 'Type of Materials' column on the Seminar Listings page on our site, which you can see by clicking the SEMINARS tab at the top of the page.
For each seminar on our site, we also provide a Seminar Discussion Area which serves as the primary forum for the instructor/moderators and seminar participants to interact with one another and discuss questions and issues pertaining to the seminar topics that make up the seminar. This would be equivalent to the oral remarks and Q&A sessions that would take place during a live CLE seminar. This is the key component to the seminar that allows all CLEonline.com seminars to qualify as participatory CLE activities, not self-study.
Our online seminar discussions are MODERATED and do not take place in 'real time' (i.e., they are not so-called 'chat' sessions.) Therefore, none of the instructor/moderators or seminar participants have to be present in the Seminar Discussion Area at a given time of day. You can come and go from the Seminar Discussion Area at any time of day or night that is convenient to you. While you are there, you can post questions or comments that you may have on any of the topics that make up the seminar. Unlike a traditional seminar, you can take as much time as you wish to formulate your question before submitting it online. (You can even submit your question anonymously, if you prefer.) The instructor(s) will be notified when your question is submitted, and once a reply to your question is posted, you will get an e-mail notice at which time you can return to the site and review your question as well as the reply remarks. You can also review the questions and comments posted by other participants in the seminar. Plus, you have a permanent, written record of all questions and answers submitted throughout the entire course of the seminar, and you can choose to print any of the questions and answers posted in the Seminar Discussion Area if you desire to keep a hard copy.
We also provide an optional time log function on our site that you can use to log the amount of time that you spend participating in the seminar each time you access the seminar. When you finish putting in all of your time on the seminar, you can then complete the Final Evaluation and CLE Credit Report online to record the total amount of time that you spent on the seminar and that you wish to claim for CLE purposes.
All of the materials and discussion items for our online CLE seminars are self-contained on our Web site. Therefore, you can easily participate in any of our online CLE seminars from whereever you happen to be-- office, home or a computer in a remote location while you are traveling. As long as you have access to a computer that is connected to the Internet, you can participate in a CLEonline.com seminar at any time.
Our seminars are all conducted on a monthly session basis, with each session ending on the last day of the month. So, if you register for a seminar posted on our site, you would be able to access the seminar at any time during the course of the month. Most of our seminars are also repeated in the following month, so if you are not able to take a seminar during the current month's session, you can register for and participate in next month's session.
The key benefit to our seminars is-- CONVENIENCE TO YOU! Unlike traditional seminars, YOU decide the time of day that it is most convenient for you to come and go from the seminar, so you don't have to make any adjustments to your schedule or appointments in order to participate. Early mornings or late nights-- it doesn't matter. Whatever time of day works best for YOU is the determining factor, not a prescribed date and time over which you have no control. Also, you don't have to complete a seminar all in one sitting. You can come and go and accumulate your time over a period of several sessions, instead of having to carve out a large block of time in your schedule to complete a seminar all at one time. The end result is a better and more enjoyable CLE learning experience for YOU!

- What do I need to participate?
- All you need in order to participate in one of our online seminars is a computer with a Web browser and an Internet connection. This can either be your own computer at your home or office, a friend's computer, or a computer at a library or school.
In addition, you don't have to log on from the same computer each time. As long as you have access to the Web and your CLEonline.com username and password, you can access our site and fully participate in one of our convenient CLEonline.com seminars from wherever you may be (office, home, a hotel room, etc.)
CLEonline.com seminars include both streaming audio/video materials and written materials. (A few seminars are text only for those of you who cannot receive audio or video materials over the Internet.) Our written materials are in PDF file format, so you will need the free Adobe Acrobat Reader software on your computer (which comes pre-installed on most computers.) For our audio and video materials, we use the RealPlayer software from Real Networks. This is also free software that you can easily download on the Internet if you don't already have it on your computer. (Please note: To receive streaming audio or video over the Internet, generally, you would need a fairly fast connection to the Internet (such as DSL or cable.) If you are using a telephone line and a modem to connect to the Internet, you may not be able to receive certain audio or video files due to the slow connection speed.)
Also, the online discussion component to our seminars is in a non-chat format, so you don't have to be online at the same time as anyone else and you don't need any special software or plug-ins. You can easily post questions or comments that you may have at any time you are online, which can then be answered and posted the next time an instructor/moderator for the seminar comes online. Again, CONVENIENCE TO YOU and your schedule is the chief benefit to our CLEonline.com seminars.

- How do I register?
- To register for any of or CLEonline.com seminars, just follow these steps:
- If you are not yet a registered user on our site, click the tab labeled NEW USER above and complete the New User registration form. There is no cost to become a registered user of CLEonline.com and ANYONE (whether or not you are an attorney) can register on our site. Select your own username and password, which will allow you to access our site now and in the future.
- Next, simply click on the LOGIN tab above and enter your username and password. This will take you to our Lobby page where you can click the link labeled "Register for New Seminar".
- View the listing of available seminar sessions and click on any seminar title to see a full description of that seminar. To register for the seminar, just click the 'Add to Shopping Cart' button. Your seminar selection will then appear on the CLEonline.com Shopping Cart page. If you would like to register for additional seminars, just click the 'Select More Seminars' button and repeat this step. Otherwise, continue with the next step to complete your registration.
- When you have finished selecting your seminars and you have added them all to your Shopping Cart, just click the 'Continue With Checkout' button on the CLEonline.com Shopping Cart page and select your payment method. You can choose to pay with a credit card online, or you can pay with a credit card by phone, by fax or by mailing in a check. (Please Note: If you wish to gain immediate access to your seminar(s), you will need to use the 'Credit Card Online' payment option.)
- After making your payment method selection, click the 'Continue to Final Checkout' button and follow the instructions on the next page to complete your transaction.

- Can I get CLE Credits?
- Yes. In many MCLE states (such as Texas, California, Colorado and others), you can now get full participatory CLE credits for our CLEonline.com seminars. (This is not self-study credit.)
Under the Texas MCLE Rules, you can now satisfy ALL of your annual CLE credits through our online CLE seminars. These are regular participatory credit hours just like you would obtain from traditional live CLE seminars and there is NO LIMIT on the number of credit hours that you can earn each year through online CLE seminars. Each of our CLEonline.com seminars are assigned a course number by the State Bar of Texas and this is posted in the Seminar Room for each of our seminars. When you complete one of our seminars online, you will need to file your credits directly to your MCLE record at the Bar. For instructions on how to report your credits to the State Bar of Texas, please click this link.
Just like Texas, California attorneys can also satisfy ALL required CLE credits through our online CLE seminars. CLEonline.com has been designated as an approved California MCLE provider by the State Bar of California, so all of our online CLE seminars are automatically accredited in California. These are regular participatory credit hours just like you would get from traditional live CLE seminars and there is NO LIMIT on the number of credit hours that you can earn each year through online CLE seminars. After completion of one of our CLEonline.com seminars, you can download and print a Uniform Certificate of Attendance form for your seminar and then keep it in your MCLE files. There is no central reporting of your individual CLE credits required to be filed with the State Bar of California, as is the case in Texas.
For those of you in other MCLE states, several of these states will allow credit for our CLEonline.com seminars to the same or similar extent as do Texas, California and other states. To find out more about getting CLE credit in your state, please click here to see a related FAQ.

- Where can I get the Texas MCLE course number for a seminar for which I am registered?
- For each of our seminars, there is an Announcement posted in the Seminar Room that will give you the course number that has been assigned to that seminar by the MCLE Committee of the State Bar of Texas. You can also find the MCLE course number in the header information on each of the pages within your seminar, and you can also click on the title of a seminar listed on our Seminar Listings page to see a full description for that seminar, including the course number posted at the top of that page. For those of you who are licensed in Texas, you can file your CLE credits directly with the State Bar of Texas using this course number and your Bar number. For instructions on how to report your credits to the State Bar of Texas, please click this link. For further information on filing your CLE credits with the State Bar, please contact the MCLE Dept. of the State Bar at 1-800-204-2222, ext. 2106.

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- Is there a fee for these seminars and how can it be paid?
- Yes, the registration fee for most of our online CLE seminars is only $25 per credit hour. This registration fee can be paid by credit card (either online or via fax) or you can mail in a check, whichever you prefer. Also, if your firm has created an account with us, you can charge your registration fee to your firm's account. The seminar registration process is all done online, and you would select your payment option at the time you register for a seminar. Please note that if you wish to receive immediate access to a seminar, then you would need to select the online credit card payment option or the option to charge to your firm's account. Using this option, you can register for a seminar at any time of the day or night, and after submitting your credit card information online, you can then gain immediate access to the seminar and begin participating right away. Your credit card information is transmitted safely and securely using our secure Internet server.

- When do I need to register for an online seminar in order to participate?
- Our CLEonline.com seminars are conducted on a monthly session basis with each month's sessions ending on the last day of the month. You can register for a seminar at any time during the month. Once you have registered and paid for a seminar, you can access it whenever you want and as many times as you want during the course of that month's session. You don't have to complete the seminar all in one sitting, so you can come and go as often as you wish throughout the course of the month.
Most of our seminars are repeated from month to month, so if you can't register for a selected seminar this month, you can register for next month's session. When you click the Seminars tab at the top of any page on our site, you will see a complete listing of all of the seminar sessions for the current month, followed by all of the sessions that are scheduled for next month. If you wish to take a seminar this month, please be sure to register for the current month's session for that seminar.

- I'm having trouble registering for a seminar. I keep clicking the buttons as set out in the instructions, but I can't complete the registration transaction. What could be the problem?
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If you are accessing our site from behind a firewall, you may need to check with your network admininstrator and see if they can access our site from OUTSIDE your firewall. If they can, then you may need to ask your network administrator to check their firewall settings to see if an adjustment can be made to alleviate this problem for you. We have had some other firms who have reported similar problems in the past, but the problem was cleared up once their network administrators made some firewall adjustments.
Also, sometimes your session connection to our server may have timed out and it may be necessary to clear your cache and re-establish a fresh connection to our server. A lot of problems can be resolved simply by restarting your computer, relaunching your Internet Web browser program (e.g., Internet Explorer) and then returning to our Web site with a fresh Internet connection. Again, you may want to check with your IT person or network administrator for assistance with this type of problem.
Also, please remember-- we can always handle your seminar registration over the phone if you are paying by credit card. Just give us a call during normal business hours and we can take care of your seminar registrations for you right away.

- Once I've registered for a seminar, where do I go next?
- If you selected the online credit card payment option, you will be automatically admitted to the seminar(s) for which you registered.
- However, if you have selected a different payment option (phone, fax or mail), your registration request will be added to our database. But, we will not be able to complete your registration and admit you into the seminar until your payment is actually received. Once your payment has been received, we will notify you via e-mail.
- Once you have been admitted to the seminar, then you can simply click on the LOGIN tab and enter your username and password. On the Lobby page, click the link on the left side of the page labeled 'Go to Your Seminar'. The next page will list the title of any seminar(s) for which you are currently registered. You can click on the title of a listed seminar and then enter the Seminar Room for that seminar. From there, you can then access the prepared materials in the Seminar Materials Library as well as enter the Seminar Discussion Area, where you can submit any questions or comments you may have for the instructor(s).

- Once I have registered for a seminar, do I have to complete it right away and do I have to finish it all in one sitting?
- No. This is one of the key benefits to our online CLE seminars. As a participant in a CLEonline.com seminar, you can come and go from the seminar at times that are convenient to YOU and not at times that are prescribed by someone else. In addition, you can complete your seminars in short segments of time, so you don't have to block out a large part of your day in order to participate in a seminar (as is the case with a traditional live CLE seminar.) For example, you may want to put in 30 minutes a day on your lunch break for a few days or spend some time on your seminar late at night, from the comfort of your home computer. So, you can slowly accumulate your CLE credits over an extended period of time, rather than having to cram all of your time into one long session.

- Are written materials available in a CLEonline.com seminar?
- Yes. For each CLEonline.com seminar, we set up a Seminar Materials Library that contains the written materials for that seminar (as well as audio and/or video materials, if available.) These materials could include articles, papers, PowerPoint slides, forms or any other written documents that the instructor(s) have submitted for the seminar. These documents would be equivalent to the course notebook that you would typically receive at the beginning of a live CLE seminar. All of the documents filed in the Seminar Materials Library can be viewed online with your computer or you can download and print the materials, as you prefer. You can access the documents posted in the Seminar Materials Library as often as you want throughout the course of a CLEonline.com seminar.

- Do I have to schedule a time to take a seminar and do I have to be online at a certain time?
- No. Once you have registered for one of our CLEonline.com seminars, you can participate in that seminar at ANY TIME during the course of that seminar session. There are no prescribed times that you have to be online, and you do not have to be online at the same time as anyone else in the seminar. So, you come to the seminar at whatever time of day (or night) that is convenient to you. If you have a question or comment about any of the materials or topics in the seminar, then you can submit your question while you are online from within the Seminar Discussion Area The instructor(s) will be notified when your question is submitted, and once a reply to your question is posted, you will get an e-mail notice at which time you can return to the site and review your question as well as the reply remarks.

- Are these seminars interactive in any way?
- Yes. The interaction for each of our seminars takes place in the form of questions and answers that are posted in the Seminar Discussion Area for each seminar. This is the area within each of our seminars where you can post questions or comments that you may have on the materials and topics that make up the seminar. You can also review questions and comments that others in the seminar may have posted as well. Once you submit a question or comment online, the instructor(s) will be able to review your question or comment and post it along with any remarks they may wish to make in reply. This is not a 'chat' session, so you don't have to be online at the same time as the instructor/moderator, but it still qualifies as 'participatory' credit, since you do have the opportunity to ask questions of the instructor at any time during the course of the seminar. Once a reply to your question has been posted, you will get an e-mail notice, at which time you can return to the site and review your question as well as the reply remarks in the Seminar Discussion Area.

- Do I have to ask a question in order to receive participatory CLE credits?
- No. Just as with a traditional CLE seminar, you are not required to ask any questions, but you certainly have the opportunity to do so in our Seminar Discussion Area. In fact, we feel that you actually have MORE of an opportunity to ask questions in our online CLE seminars than in a traditional seminar, since there is no time limit and you can even submit your questions or comments anonymously if you prefer. However, even if you choose not to post a question or comment, we certainly encourage you to review all of the items posted in the Seminar Discussion Areasince it often contains very useful information that would not be found in the prepared materials.

- I'm having trouble accessing the streaming audio or video materials for my seminar. What can I do?
- Please note that in order to receive streaming audio or video materials online, generally, you would need a fairly fast connection to the Internet (such as DSL or a cable modem.) If you are using a telephone line and a modem to connect to the Internet (i.e., a dial-up connection), then you may not be able to receive certain audio or video files due to the slow connection speed.
To test your RealPlayer software installation, you might want to try clicking the following link. Once on this Web page, click the link for 'Start Tutorials'. If you are not able to hear this audio play through your RealPlayer software, then this would indicate that you either have a problem with your software installation or your connection speed is not fast enough:
http://realone.real.com/?subsection=gsg&page=tutorial
Also, other users who have DSL or cable modems have indicated to us that they sometimes have to disable their firewall or Internet security software to allow the streaming audio and video files to come through on their computer. If you are on a network in an office, you may need to check with your network administrator if you cannot receive the audio or video materials.

- Are all of your seminars accredited for CLE hours by the MCLE Committee of the State Bar of Texas?
- Yes. Under the amended MCLE rules adopted in 1996 by the State Bar of Texas, 'online CLE seminars' can now be accredited for participatory CLE credit just like traditional CLE seminars. This is the same type of CLE credit that you would be able to earn from a traditional live CLE seminar. Also, there is NO LIMIT on the number of CLE credit hours that you can earn each year through online CLE seminars. This also includes legal ethics credits as well. Therefore, you can now earn ALL of your required CLE credits each year through online CLE seminars from the convenience of your home or office and without ever having to incur the time and costs of travel to a traditional, live CLE seminar.

- What about California?
- CLEonline.com is a State Bar of California approved MCLE provider pursuant to Sec. 9 of the California MCLE Rules and Regulations. So, ALL of our online CLE seminars are approved for participatory CLE credits in California. Just as with Texas, there is NO LIMIT on the number of credit hours that can be earned through online seminars, so you can easily satisfy all of your California MCLE requirements through our CLEonline.com seminars.

- Can I get credit in New York?
- Yes. New York attorneys can also earn CLE credits toward their New York MCLE requirements through our online CLE seminars. However, not all of our available seminars are eligible for CLE credit in New York, so please be sure to click this link to see a listing of our online seminars allowed for New York CLE credits.
The New York MCLE regulations require that you verify your completion of the audio (video) materials for an online CLE seminar through a validation system that we have established on our site. This validation is required in order to generate the required documentation that you will need to claim your New York CLE credits for a seminar. When you listen to the audio (video) materials, a validation code will be mentioned at some point during the course of the audio (video) recording for the seminar. This validation code will be required in order to verify your completion of the audio (video) materials and download the required documents.
PLEASE NOTE: If you are licensed in New York and you wish to register for one our seminars that is authorized for credit in New York, please be sure that your user record properly reflects your New York license. If you are not yet a registered CLEonline.com user, click the tab labeled 'NEW USER' above and make sure that you select 'New York' under the space for 'State Bar License(s)' when you submit your new user registration. If you are already a registered user on our site, you can check your record by clicking the tab labeled 'USER PROFILE' above and verifying that 'New York' is listed as one of your State Bar License(s) in your user profile.

- Can I get credit in other states?
- Yes. Several other states will now allow CLE credits for online CLE seminars. A number of states will allow credit for our online CLE seminars based on the fact that they have been accredited for participatory credit by another MCLE state (i.e., Texas.) Tennessee will also allow credit for CLEonline.com seminars (subject to certain limitations such as only 1 hour for text-based only seminars and an overall limit of 6 hours per year.) CLEonline.com is also an accredited provider in the State of Vermont, so ALL CLEonline.com seminars can be used by Vermont attorneys to satisfy their annual MCLE requirements. If you are licensed in another state, please feel free to contact us for additional information or contact the MCLE office in your state to inquire about the status of their rules and policies for online CLE credit.
Unfortunately, some of the other MCLE states are currently not allowing any credit for online CLE seminars. For those of you in such jurisdictions, we would STRONGLY URGE you to begin lobbying the members of your CLE Commission/Committee and your Supreme Court to let them know that you would like to see online CLE accredited in your state to the same extent allowed in Texas, California and other states (i.e., on par with traditional CLE seminars and with no limit on the number of credit hours allowed.)
Online CLE seminars are clearly a coming trend in CLE as more and more attorneys are using the Internet in their daily practices. However, it is going to take attorneys in each jurisdiction to make your voices heard so that online CLE can be treated equally with traditional live CLE seminars in each state. If the members of the Commission and Court in your state will objectively look at the learning process afforded by online CLE, they will see that this is clearly NOT self-study, and that our online CLE seminars include functions and features that allow for clear interaction and participation among the seminar participants and the instructor/moderators. The notion of 'distance learning' has been around for quite some time in the academic world, and there is clear empirical evidence that distance learning is a viable educational activity on par (or better) than the traditional 'classroom' approach.

- How do I accumulate my hours for a CLEonline.com seminar?
- Just as with a traditional CLE seminar, your CLE credits are determined by the actual amount of time you spend participating in one of our online CLE seminars. You can accumulate your time in short or long sessions throughout the course of the seminar session. And, you can count the time that you spend online reviewing materials with your computer or offline time that you spend reviewing seminar materials which have been downloaded and printed from the seminar. However, in order to count as participatory CLE credit, all of your time must be accumulated by the last day of the seminar session (which is the last day of the current month.)
For example, for a seminar that is accredited for 3.0 hours of CLE credit, if you accumulate a cumulative total of 3 hours of time during the course of the seminar, then you would be entitled to claim the 3.0 hours of PARTICIPATORY CLE credit for this seminar. However, if you accumulate less than three hours of time in this seminar, then you are only entitled to claim CLE credit based on the actual amount of time that you accumulated. And, if you accumulate more than three hours of time for this 3-hour seminar, then you would be limited to the maximum CLE credit of 3.0 credit hours.

- Who keeps up with the time I have accumulated on a seminar?
- During the course of one of our online seminars, you can keep up with the time that you accumulate in any manner you wish. The system does not automatically track your time each time you login to our Web site and enter a seminar. However, as a convenience to you, we do provide a Time Log function that you can use to log in the amount of time that you spend on the seminar each time you visit our site. Even though you are not required to use this function to log your time, this is an easy way for you to keep a running total of the amount of time that you have accumulated for a seminar. You can also use whatever timekeeping method you use in your office to keep track of your time on a seminar.
At the end of a seminar, there is a final time log that you would need to complete online to record the total amount of CLE credit that you wish to claim for the seminar. When you finish putting in all of your time on a seminar, just click the CLE Credits tab (which is shown at the top of each page within the seminar.) Then click the link for 'Final CLE Credit Report', and record your final time for the seminar.

- How are my CLE credits reported for a CLEonline.com seminar?
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Once you have completed a seminar and acknowledged your total credit hours on our site (as outlined in the previous FAQ), complete the following steps depending on your jurisdicion:
For Texas:
IMPORTANT NOTICE: Under the new Texas MCLE Rules, you will now need to report your CLE credits for any seminars that you complete on our site directly to your MCLE record at the State Bar by the last day of your birth month in order to avoid a non-compliance penalty fee. Due to this rules change, we will not be able to report your credits for you to the Bar since our seminar sessions do not end each month until the last day of the month, and your CLE credits must now be both completed and recorded on your MCLE record at the Bar by the last day of your birth month.
Once you have completed a seminar, you can enter your final CLE credits on our site to verify your completion, and then you will need to go to the MCLE page on the State Bar of Texas Website to record your final CLE credits for the seminar on your MCLE record at the Bar. You can go directly to this page on the MCLE site by clicking the following link:
https://www.texasbar.com/customsource/wrapper/mcleonline/member/main.asp
You will then need to login with your Texas Bar number and PIN number. (If you don't already have a PIN number for the MCLE site, you can easily create it once you are there.) After you login, then click the link to 'Add Course or Self-Study Credit'. You will then need to use the course number assigned to your seminar (which is posted in the Seminar Room for each of our seminars) to add your final CLE credits for the seminar to your MCLE record. Should you have any questions about using this new MCLE system to record your credits on your MCLE record, please call the MCLE Dept. of the State Bar at 1-800-204-2222, ext. 2106.
NOTE: Even if you have not recorded your total hours for a seminar on our site, you MUST record your credits on your MCLE record at the State Bar to get credit for a completed seminar, since this is your official record. The State Bar does not require verification from us, so as long as you have recorded your credits on your MCLE record at the Bar, there would be nothing more that you would need to do on our site to claim your CLE credits.
For California:
Since the California Bar does not require central reporting of your CLE credits for each seminar, after you complete one of our CLEonline.com seminars, you can download and print a Uniform Certificate of Attendance form for your seminar. To do this, just click the CLE Credits tab (which is shown at the top of each page within the seminar), and then click the link for 'Certificate of Attendance' to download a uniform certificate of attendance form for this seminar. This is a form that you will need to complete, sign and keep in your MCLE file at your office. You do not need to file this with the California Bar and there is no reporting form that we as the CLE provider have to file with the Bar to verify your participation in the seminar. You will need to keep this certificate in your files for purposes of a possible audit by the Bar pursuant to the California MCLE rules.
For Other States:
For many other MCLE states, you can receive CLE credits for our seminars based on the fact that these seminars are accredited by another MCLE state (namely, Texas and California.) Follow the instructions above for California to download a Uniform Certificate of Attendance form for your seminar. You will need to print this certificate, complete it and sign it. Depending on the MCLE requirements in your state, you will either need to submit a copy of it to your MCLE office or keep it in your MCLE records for possible audit in the future.
There may be more specific CLE reporting requirements in your jurisdication, so we strongly encourage you to please contact the MCLE department or office in your state to find out the exact reporting procedures that they require. Also, not all states will allow credit for online CLE seminars, so if you have questions about whether or not your state allows credit, please contact your MCLE office. We will be happy to work with you and the MCLE office in your state to comply with any special requirements for reporting your CLE.
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