- A Solicitor who is NOT a sole practitioner or a compliance partner and/or an anti-money laundering compliance partner:
- the CPD requirement for the 2024 cycle is 25 hours CPD, to include a minimum of 5 hours of professional development and solicitor wellbeing and a minimum of 3 hours of client care and professional standards.
- A Solicitor who IS a sole practitioner or a compliance partner and/or an anti-money laundering compliance partner:
- the CPD requirement for the 2024 cycle is 25 hours CPD, to include a minimum of 5 hours of professional development and solicitor wellbeing and a minimum of 3 hours of client care and professional standards, of which at least 1 hour shall be accounting and anti-money laundering compliance.
Senior Practitioners
- A Senior Practitioner who is NOT a sole practitioner or a compliance partner and/or an anti-money laundering compliance partner: the CPD requirement for the 2024 cycle is 8 hours CPD, to include a minimum of 5 hours of professional development and solicitor wellbeing and a minimum of 3 hours of client care and professional standards.
- A Senior Practitioner who IS a sole practitioner or a compliance partner and/or an anti-money laundering compliance partner: the CPD requirement for the 2024 cycle is 8 hours CPD, to include a minimum of 5 hours of professional development and solicitor wellbeing and a minimum of 3 hours of client care and professional standards, of which at least 1 hour shall be accounting and anti-money laundering compliance.
There is a maximum limit of 7 hours CPD which may be completed within a single day.
- Solicitors should also note that a minimum of 5 hours / 20% of the annual CPD requirement must be completed in group study format.
- A maximum of 20 hours / 80% of the overall minimum CPD requirement may be claimed for time spent in relevant eLearning and
- a maximum of 12.5 hours / 50% of the yearly requirement may be claimed for writing relevant material that is published.
Ways of completing CPD
There are three different ways of undertaking the minimum 2024 CPD requirement – group study format, and/or by eLearning, and/or writing relevant material that is published.
Group Study
A minimum of 5 hours / 20% of a solicitors CPD requirement (modified or otherwise) must be completed by group study per year.
Solicitors should note that group study means an organised session of CPD undertaken by 3 or more persons, for a period of not less than 30 minutes. Physical attendance by the solicitor is required. Therefore, the watching of a ‘live feed’ of a conference/seminar/training session may not the claimed as group study (but may be claimed as eLearning).
eLearning
A maximum of 20 hours / 80% of a solicitor’s minimum CPD requirement (modified or otherwise) may be claimed for time spent in relevant eLearning. Accordingly, a solicitor who practises on a full-time basis may claim a maximum of 80% of the minimum annual CPD requirement (i.e. a maximum of 20 hours CPD during the 2024 cycle). Solicitors should note that in cases of a modification of their CPD requirement, their eLearning allowance will not be modified to less than 5 hours eLearning.
If a solicitor has a modified CPD requirement, s/he may complete up to a maximum of 80% of his/her modified CPD requirement via eLearning, but subject to a minimum of 5 hours CPD per cycle. For example, a solicitor with a modified 2024 CPD requirement of 6 hours CPD may complete a maximum of 5 hours CPD via eLearning during the 2024 cycle.
Writing relevant material that is published
A maximum of 50% of a solicitor’s minimum CPD requirement (modified or otherwise) may be claimed for time spent writing a relevant article or section of a legal periodical or textbook. Therefore, if a solicitor practices on a full-time basis, they may claim a maximum of 50% of the minimum annual CPD requirement (i.e. a maximum of 12.5 hours CPD during the 2024 cycle).
