Approved Jurisdiction List and Policy

Effective July 1, 2004

Under New York’s Approved Jurisdiction policy, so long as certain requirements are satisfied, New York attorneys may count towards their New York CLE requirement credit earned through participation in out-of-state programs accredited by a New York Approved Jurisdiction. The policy applies to both traditional live classroom-format courses and to nontraditional format courses (online, DVD, teleconference, etc.). Below is an explanation of the policy, as well as a list of New York’s Approved Jurisdictions.

Traditional live classroom format — An attorney may apply credit earned if:

• the course takes place outside of New York State;
• the course is accredited by a New York Approved Jurisdiction (see list below);
• the attorney obtains from the course sponsor documentation that the course is accredited by a New York Approved Jurisdiction (such as a statement on the certificate of attendance, or a letter or e-mail from the sponsor indicating the jurisdiction that accredited the course); and
• the attorney obtains from the course sponsor a certificate of attendance which should indicate the attorney’s name, the title, date and location of the course, the number of credits earned and the categories of credit. (Note: The official New York CLE Certificate of Attendance may not be used, as it is to be used only for courses that have been accredited by the New York State CLE Board. Uniform certificates or other documentation issued to all attorney attendees are generally acceptable.)

A newly admitted attorney (an attorney admitted to the New York Bar two years or less) must also obtain from the course sponsor documentation that the level of difficulty of the course is appropriate for newly admitted attorneys.

Attorneys and course sponsors often ask whether a course must take place in the jurisdiction that has granted the accreditation. (For example, may an attorney claim credit earned for a course taken in New Jersey if it was approved by Virginia, a New York Approved Jurisdiction.) So long as the course takes place outside of New York State and is accredited by any New York Approved Jurisdiction, the policy applies.