The Comity-Plus application will be available on October 1, 2024, for the 2024-2025 reporting year
The deadline for all 2024-2025 applications is December 31, 2024.
What is the Comity-Plus program?
The annual Comity-Plus program is a voluntary program designed for out-of-state attorneys who reside and have an active license to practice law in a mandatory continuing legal education jurisdiction. Adopted by the Montana Supreme Court in Rule 5.D., this program allows eligible members to apply the credits required to meet their jurisdiction’s annual MCLE requirements towards compliance in Montana.
To meet its obligations to the public and the legal profession, the Commission requires the member to complete additional activities, if needed, to satisfy Montana’s standards for the total number of general credits (13.00) plus the total number of Professional Fitness and Integrity (ethics) credits (2.00), required for Montana CLE compliance.
Example: You reside in a jurisdiction that only requires 10.0 general CLE credits per year plus 1.0 ethics CLE credit. Montana would require you report an additional 3.0 general CLE credits and 1.0 PFI (ethics) credit to meet Montana’s total credit requirements.
Who is eligible to apply?
A member must meet all the following qualifications to be eligible:
To take advantage of this program, you must be in compliance for the 2023-2024 reporting year with no outstanding fees and meet all of the criteria outlined in Rule 5.D.
What documents do I need to provide?
A member must provide all the following documents at the time of submission:
Please note: Credits used in Montana for prior years’ compliance may not be used again towards the current year’s Comity-Plus credit total.
How do I apply for the Comity-Plus program?
All required documentation must be submitted through the Comity-Plus form found on your Member Dashboard.
Is there a fee?
The Comity-Plus processing fee is $25.00 and must be paid during the submission of the application.
Is there a deadline for submitting the application?
The Commission will not consider any Comity-Plus application requests submitted after December 31 of the reporting year. If a member does not submit a Comity-Plus application by December 31 of the reporting year, the member must comply with Montana’s MCLE requirements as set forth in Rule 5.
What if my jurisdiction has a longer reporting period than Montana?
If your resident jurisdiction's reporting period is longer than yearly, divide the total number of general and ethics credits required by the number of years in your reporting period.
Example: Your jurisdiction requires 45.0 total credits, including 6.0 ethics credits, every three years. That would be 15.0 total credits, including 2.0 ethics per year. If the totals come out to less than Montana's required 15.0 credits, including 2.0 PFI (ethics) per reporting year, you are required to report additional credits with proper documentation. Also, please highlight on your transcript which courses you are applying toward Comity-Plus compliance. They cannot be credits that have already been used for a prior year’s compliance.
Rule 5 – Education Requirements for MCLE Compliance
D. “Comity-Plus” Compliance for Members in Other States and Jurisdictions.
A member who has an active license to practice law in another state or jurisdiction where the member resides (“Resident Jurisdiction”) may transfer the number of credits required to meet MCLE requirements of that state or jurisdiction. In order to meet its obligations to the public and the legal profession, the Commission requires the member to complete additional activities, if needed, to satisfy Montana’s standards for the total number of credits, and/or the total number of Professional Fitness and Integrity credits, required for CLE compliance.
Further Explanation of Comity-Plus
1. Comity: For lawyers whose address on file with the State Bar is outside Montana, Montana will accept, sight unseen, the number of credits, including the number of professional fitness and integrity credits, required for a certificate of compliance from any and all other mandatory CLE states. Full compliance in the residence jurisdiction must be met before Montana will consider comity-plus compliance. The CLE administrator from the attorney’s residence jurisdiction must provide a verification of compliance and a list of the courses taken to demonstrate compliance.
2. Plus: Montana will require the attorney to make up the difference, if any, between the number of total credits and the number of professional fitness and integrity credits required for compliance in the residence jurisdiction and the number of total credits, including the number of professional fitness and integrity credits, required in Montana.
3. Montana will require an early submission date for comity-plus applications and place the burden on the attorney to have provided the appropriate documentation not only for certification in the residence jurisdiction, but for any additional courses taken to come into full compliance with Montana’s standards
4. Montana will not dispute other jurisdictions’ definitions of “hour” or types of accredited activities for the credits used in the comity portion. Montana will, however, insist that all courses taken to make up the difference between another jurisdiction’s requirements and Montana’s for the plus portion meet Montana’s requirements for eligibility and all must be interactive in nature.
If you have any further questions about Comity-Plus, please contact us at cle@montanabar.org.