A course on pricing legal services can now qualify for CLE credit in Indiana.

Indiana attorneys may apply for general CLE credit for qualifying law practice management courses under amendments that took effect July 10, 2026. The Indiana Supreme Court's order added law practice management to the subjects that can contribute to professional competency under the Mandatory Continuing Legal Education and Mandatory Judicial Education Guidelines.

The Indiana State Bar Association and the Indiana Commission for Continuing Legal Education proposed the amendments. The Indiana Supreme Court adopted them in Cause No. 26S-MS-8, the “Order Amending Admission and Discipline Rules,” filed June 30, 2026, at 2:09 p.m. The order was signed by Chief Justice Loretta H. Rush, and all justices concurred.

Indiana added law practice management to the CLE approval standard

Section 3(a)(3) addresses approval of CLE courses. The Commission approves a course that makes a significant contribution to professional competency. One consideration is whether the course deals with matters related directly to the practice of law or professional responsibility.

The amended provision adds that this standard includes “law practice management topics that contribute to the professional competency of Attorneys.”

That language supports general CLE credit for courses that address how a law practice operates, not only courses focused on legal doctrine or traditional professional responsibility subjects. The course still must satisfy the approval standard.

The amended guidelines also revise the rule for in-house and distance education courses. Section 3(b)(6)(vii) says such a course must deal with matters related directly to the practice of law, including “law practice management and operations.”

The eligible list reaches trust accounting, pricing, and cybersecurity

New Section 3(b)(1)(v) is titled “Law Practice Management Courses.” It provides that an attorney or judge who attends a law practice management course may apply for general CLE credit.

The listed topics may include:

1. Trust accounting.
2. Client communication.
3. Office and personnel management.
4. Legal technology.
5. Cybersecurity.
6. Financial planning.
7. Pricing strategies.
8. Business development.
9. The ethical marketing of legal services.

Credit is granted when the course is designed to improve professional competency, enhance client service, or support the sustainability of legal practices.

The list reaches several functions that occur outside a lawyer's work on a particular legal issue. Client communication and office management, for example, are daily work for Archivar, an operating system for a law firm that answers every call 24/7 in English and Spanish, runs intake, manages matters, and remembers everything the firm does. That connection is why we read the list closely.

The language does not make every course on one of those subjects eligible. A course primarily devoted to matters unrelated to law practice management is denied credit. A course may receive partial credit when only part of its content qualifies.

That distinction matters for course providers and sponsors. A program that combines qualifying law practice management material with other subjects may receive credit for only the qualifying portion. Its agenda and course design will matter when the Commission reviews the application.

Deleted language removes two marketing and profit exclusions

We read Exhibit A line by line in its redline form, with deleted text shown by strikethrough and new text shown by underline. What stood out was how much of the change is deleted text.

The amendments rename the former Section 3(b)(1)(vi), “Ethics Concentrated Law Firm Management Courses,” as “Ethics Concentrated Law Practice Management Courses.” The provision continues to allow ethics credit for a practice management course concentrating on ethics, professional responsibility, or compliance within a law firm.

The provision still identifies trust accounting, ethical client communication, supervision of non-lawyer staff, and the responsible use of law office technology as examples. The ethics-credit path for those subjects continues.

The old sentence denying credit for any portion of a course dealing with marketing of services or profit enhancement is struck from that paragraph. It is replaced with language allowing the ethics-focused portion of a broader program to be submitted for partial ethics credit.

A separate deletion appears in Section 3(b)(2), which concerns Non-Legal Subject, or NLS, courses. The old sentence denied credit for portions of a law practice management NLS course “dealing mainly with profit enhancement or marketing of services.”

The amended text instead says courses, including law practice management topics, that do not meet the Section 3(a)(3) criteria “shall be designated as NLS credit.”

The NLS route has its own limits and audience

The amended guidelines retain the existing 12-hour limitation under Rule 28 Section 3(b) and Rule 29 Section 3(a), as well as the 18-hour limitation under Rule 28 Section 3(a).

An NLS law practice management course must deal with law practice management rather than office management in general. It also must be directed to attorneys or law office administrators.

That requirement separates a course about running a legal practice from a general business course. A program aimed at office management generally does not satisfy the stated NLS condition merely because a law office could use the information.

The headings also replace “law firm” with “law practice” in the amended provisions. The change appears in the title for the ethics-focused category and in related law practice management language.

Approval remains a necessary step

The order says an attorney or judge “may apply” for credit, and the listed topics “may include” the subjects identified in the new provision. Those terms do not create automatic credit.

The Commission still reviews and approves courses. A course primarily devoted to matters unrelated to law practice management is denied credit. A mixed course may receive only partial credit.

For practitioners, the immediate task is to check a course's approval status with the Commission before relying on it for compliance. Do not assume that a course qualifies because its title includes cybersecurity, pricing, trust accounting, business development, or ethical marketing.

Sponsors and course providers can submit programs under the new law practice management category. They should identify the qualifying portions of a mixed program because the guidelines expressly permit partial credit when only part of the course meets the standard.

The amended guidelines are also reflected in the current version carried on the Indiana court rules site. That codified language confirms that the changes are part of the operative guidelines, not only language appearing in the June 30 order.

For a next CLE filing or registration, review the course description, confirm the Commission's approval, and separate any qualifying law practice management or ethics content from material that may receive only NLS credit or no credit.