Mentorship

Licensed legal professionals may earn Mandatory Continuing Legal Education (MCLE) credit for participating in an approved structured mentoring program. Per Washington Supreme Court Admission and Practice Rule (APR) 11, mentors and mentees have the opportunity to receive one MCLE credit for every one hour engaged in an approved structured mentoring program. Credit may be earned by participating in an MCLE Board approved program.  Law and legal procedure credits are not available for participating in approved mentoring programs.

Standards for Approving Structured Mentoring Programs

The MCLE Board sets minimum standards for approving structured mentoring programs for MCLE credit. Recently, the MCLE Board decided to expand its policy to allow MCLE credit to those mentoring law students, those enrolled in the law clerk program, recent JD graduates, and inactive members who plan to be licensed in Washington state when participating in certain approved structured mentoring programs. This policy expands the pool of participants who can be considered a mentee for MCLE credit purposes, but the requirement that a mentor be an active member of the bar for at least five years and in good standing remains unchanged. It also excludes the WSBA self-directed mentoring program as this program does not have the degree of oversight that exists in the other approved mentoring programs, which have been devised by and are monitored by organizations that have sought and obtained approval from the Board.

Apply to Become an MCLE Board Approved Mentoring Program

Mentoring programs interested in becoming MCLE Board approved must submit an application (which also includes the most recent standards), as well as program materials, and sample forms to the MCLE Board.

• MCLE Board Approved Mentoring Programs
• Seattle University Low Bono Incubator Mentoring Program
• Seattle Intellectual Property American Inn of Court (SIPIC Mentoring Program)
• Seattle Chinese Bar Association
• Office of Civil Legal Aid Children Representation Program
  

Mentoring Guide for Self-Directed Structured Mentoring

Licensed legal professionals wishing to develop their own self-directed structured mentoring program with a chosen mentor or mentee, must follow the guidelines in the Self-Directed Structured Mentoring Program Guide in order to obtain MCLE credit. The Self-Directed Structured Mentoring Program Guide can be found online and includes the following:

• Mentoring agreement (must be signed before mentoring begins)
• Mentoring plan
• Mentoring evaluation 

Once the mentoring plan is complete, licensed legal professionals may claim credit by submitting an online application with the above documents on the MCLE Online System at https://mcle.wsba.org/.

Pro Bono Legal Service

You can earn MCLE credit for providing pro bono legal services through a qualified legal service provider (QLSP). QLSPs are listed here and are defined in Washington Supreme Court Admission and Practice Rule (APR) 1(e)(8). Law and legal procedure credits and ethics credits are not available for providing pro bono legal service. 

Yearly, you may claim one credit for every hour of pro bono legal service provided through a QLSP by submitting an online application via the MCLE Online System.