The Departments of the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court, pursuant to the authority invested in them, do hereby amend section 1500.2 of Part 1500 of Title 22 of the Official Compilations of Codes, Rules and Regulations of the State of New York, entitled “Mandatory Continuing Legal Education Program for Attorneys in the State of New York,” as follows, effective January 1, 2018:

§ 1500.2 Definitions

...

(g) Diversity, Inclusion and Elimination of Bias courses, programs and activities must relate to the practice of law and may include, among other things, implicit and explicit bias, equal access to justice, serving a diverse population, diversity and inclusion initiatives in the legal profession, and sensitivity to cultural and other differences when interacting with members of the public, judges, jurors, litigants, attorneys and court personnel.

(h) Regulations and Guidelines refers to...

============

The Departments of the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court do hereby further amend sections 1500.4(b)(2) and 1500.22(a) of Part 1500 as follows, effective July 1, 2018:

§ 1500.4 Accreditation

...

(b) Standards

...

(2) The course or program must have significant intellectual or practical content and its primary objective must be to increase the professional legal competency of the attorney in ethics and professionalism, skills, law practice management, areas of professional practice, and/or diversity, inclusion and elimination of bias.

***

§ 1500.22 Minimum Requirements

(a) Credit Hours. Each attorney shall complete a minimum of 24 credit hours of accredited continuing legal education each biennial reporting cycle in ethics and professionalism, skills, law practice management, areas of professional practice, or diversity, inclusion and elimination of bias, at least four (4) credit hours of which shall be in ethics and professionalism and at least one (1) credit hour of which shall be in diversity, inclusion and elimination of bias. Ethics and professionalism, skills, law practice management, areas of professional practice, and diversity, inclusion and elimination of bias are defined in § 1500.2. The ethics and professionalism and diversity, inclusion and elimination of bias components may be intertwined with other courses.