LAWYERS now have more freedom to choose how they keep up with developments in the law under new Supreme Court rules on continuing legal education.
The Supreme Court en banc’s 2026 mandatory continuing legal education (MCLE) rules, which took effect on Sept. 15, allow lawyers to pursue continuing education tailored to their areas of practice, while expanding ways to earn required credits and strengthening compliance rules.
Under the new framework, lawyers must still earn 36 MCLE credits every three years, including at least six credits in legal ethics. But instead of following a prescribed mix of subjects, they may now choose between a general program covering various legal fields or a focused program designed around a particular area of law.
The court said the shift is intended to make continuing education more relevant to lawyers’ actual practice and encourage legal specialization. A new Committee on Legal Specialization will help develop specialized programs and a system for specialty credentials.
The rules recognize that legal practice increasingly requires expertise outside traditional law. Accredited MCLE providers may therefore tap qualified nonlawyers as resource persons in relevant fields, provided they work under the direct supervision of an accredited lecturer.
Beyond seminars and lectures, lawyers can earn MCLE credits through activities such as publishing significant legal articles, textbooks and commentaries; pursuing postgraduate studies; participating in special education activities; and taking part in nation-building projects, subject to applicable guidelines.
The rules make MCLE more accessible through technology and reasonable accommodations, requiring providers to use appropriate learning methods that allow lawyers to participate regardless of location or disability.
Lawyers providing services under the Unified Legal Aid Service (ULAS) may also receive credit for their work, with up to 15 ULAS MCLE units allowed to count toward compliance, subject to MCLE Governing Board guidelines.
Newly admitted lawyers are deemed MCLE-compliant from the time they sign the Roll of Attorneys until the end of the current compliance period.
The court has also expanded exemptions. Lawyers aged 70 and older are exempt, provided they have met previous MCLE requirements and undertake to remain updated on laws and jurisprudence. Exemptions also cover members of the MCLE Governing Board and incumbent lawyers serving in the offices of the chief justice and associate justices, and the three electoral tribunals.
Lawyers who have supervised law students continuously for 10 years under the Law Student Practice Rule may likewise qualify for exemption, provided the 10-year requirement was completed during the compliance period concerned.
At the same time, the new rules impose tighter compliance safeguards. Lawyers must maintain a valid MCLE compliance certificate to practice and indicate their MCLE compliance number and date of issue on legal documents, including pleadings and entries of appearance filed with courts and quasi-judicial bodies.
