April 14, 2020
Supreme Court of Virginia Offers Extensions to Deadlines Governing Lawyers Due to COVID-19 Pandemic
In response to an April 7, 2020, request by Karen A. Gould, Executive Director of the Virginia State Bar, the Supreme Court of Virginia issued an order today, April 14, 2020, extending a number of compliance deadlines that affect Virginia lawyers to ease their professional responsibilities during the COVID-19 emergency.
The Court’s modifications affect deadlines for dues, the Clients’ Protection Fund fee, MCLE, certification of professional liability insurance, and the attorney wellness fund fee. The extensions move all deadlines from July 31, 2020, until September 30, 2020, and October 31, 2020 to December 31, 2020.
The Supreme Court of Virginia issued an order on April 14, 2020, extending by 60 days several compliance deadlines affecting Virginia lawyers to ease their professional responsibilities during the COVID-19 Public Health Emergency.
Dues:
The Court’s modifications affect deadlines for paying dues, the Clients’ Protection Fund fee, certification of professional liability insurance, and the attorney wellness fund fee (all part of the annual dues/renewal process).
The extensions move all dues related deadlines from July 31, 2020, until September 30, 2020. Dues statements will still be mailed in late June.
If you have questions about your annual dues contact the Membership Department at (804) 775-0530 or email Membership@vsb.org
For active lawyers required to complete MCLE requirements, the completion deadline for the 2020 MCLE requirement has been extended from October 31 to midnight EST December 31, 2020. Your CLE hours need to be reported no later than 4:45 p.m. EST February 15, 2021.
The Virginia State Bar has received inquiries as to (1) whether the “live” requirement for MCLE courses will be waived; and (2) whether all the MCLE requirements for 2020 will be waived. At this time there are no plans to change the annual CLE requirement including the live interactive requirement. By December 31, 2020, all active lawyers must have completed 12 hours, 2 hours of which are in ethics, 4 hours of which are live interactive programs.
The live interactive requirement may be met by attending live in person, completing a live webcast or a live teleconference. Please make sure any course you take indicates it is approved for Virginia live interactive credit. If you have questions about an upcoming course, contact us and we can assist you. A partial list of already approved teleconference and webcast CLE courses is available at our website under Current Virginia Approved Courses.
If you have questions about your annual CLE requirement contact the MCLE Department at (804) 775-0577 or email MCLE@vsb.org
A copy of the Court’s order, which remains in effect until December 31, 2020, may be found here.
Updated: Apr 24, 2020