Continuing legal education will be mandatory for all Hawaii attorneys beginning Jan. 1, 2010.
The Hawaii Supreme Court announced Wednesday it has adopted new rules requiring all active licensed attorneys to obtain professional training throughout the course of their careers.
It is a move intended to maintain quality and competence among attorneys and also puts Hawaii in the company of 41 other states that require continuing education.
The court’s Commission on Professionalism proposed the new rules last fall. Supporters said it would bring lawyers in line with other licensed professionals such as dentists, pharmacists, public accountants and even real estate brokers, who all have to take continuing education to keep their licenses.
The new rules require attorneys to take at least three credit hours of continuing legal education on subjects such as legal ethics, proper administration of client accounts, bias awareness and prevention, and improving public access to the judicial system.
Attorneys will have to report their credit hours when they renew their licenses each year.
“Such training will not only benefit the legal profession, but, as importantly, will benefit the public at large,” said Chief Justice Ronald Moon in a prepared statement.
Hawaii is presently one of nine states with no explicit requirement for lawyers to continue taking educational or skills-development courses after they get their law licenses. The only exception was that new lawyers had to take a six-hour professionalism and ethics course within one year of getting their licenses.
Under the new rules, lawyers also will be encouraged, though not required, to take at least nine additional credit hours of legal training each year in subjects related to their specific practices.
Licensing of lawyers in Hawaii is regulated by the Hawaii Judiciary and the Hawaii State Bar Association.
The association will be responsible for administering the continuing education courses.