People in a meeting room. Credit: Elena11/Shutterstock.com

The face-to-face component of New Jersey's continuing legal education requirement is being relaxed in order to minimize exposure to the COVID-19 respiratory virus, reflecting a trend that has begun in states across the U.S.

New Jersey lawyers must take 24 credits of continuing legal education from approved providers in each two-year period, and ordinarily half of those credits must be earned by in-person attendance at approved events. But with the virus spreading throughout the nation, lawyers may take all of their CLE credits through formats other than in-person attendance under an order issued Tuesday by Chief Justice Stuart Rabner.

The in-person credits may instead be taken by approved courses transmitted by video, audio, remote viewing, online presentations, webinars, webcasts, podcasts, satellite simulcasts, teleconferences, video conferences, or internet self-study.

Rabner's order was issued in response to recommendations for social distancing issued by the New Jersey Department of Health and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention as a way to minimize exposure and transmission of the coronavirus.

One New York attorney who is admitted in New Jersey, and whose request for a waiver from New Jersey's in-person CLE requirement was denied before the order was signed, was relieved to learn that Rabner approved the waiver. That attorney, who did not want to be named, said his CLE deadline is fast approaching and he was preparing to take a series of courses over two days to fulfill his quota. The prospect of being in a roomful of lawyers at CLE events is "too alarming right now," given the virus' impact on New York's legal community, he said.

New York's legal circles have already seen inroads from the virus. Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan announced Sunday that one of its lawyers tested positive for the coronavirus, and another lawyer from the firm of Lewis and Garbuz tested positive on March 3.

Elsewhere, some other jurisdictions also changed their CLE requirements in light of the coronavirus. In Georgia, which requires 12 credits of study per year, a rule mandating that six of those credits be attained through attendance at an in-person event has been relaxed, and attorneys can earn all 12 hours through self-study, in-house, or online seminars.

The State Bar of Texas has also made changes to its CLE program. Any attorney who doesn't want to attend live Texas Bar CLE events will have free access to online videos of those programs, said a notice issued Tuesday. The Texas Bar also is allowing lawyers to cancel their registrations and get a refund.

Some providers of remote CLE programs may be seeing a health crisis as a business opportunity. Austin, Texas-based CLE Companion said more lawyers are completing their requirements online because of the coronavirus threat. Company founder Kristin Davis said in a press release Monday that instead of attending an in-person CLE event, attorneys "should consider protecting themselves and their livelihood by taking a smarter approach and staying put, either at the office or working remotely from home."