27 NCAC 01D .1606. FEES

(a)  Sponsor Fee - The sponsor fee, a charge paid directly by the sponsor, shall be paid by all sponsors of approved activities presented in North Carolina and by accredited sponsors located in North Carolina for approved activities wherever presented, except that no sponsor fee is required where approved activities are offered without charge to attendees.  In any other instance, payment of the fee by the sponsor is optional.  The amount of the fee, per approved CLE hour per active member of the North Carolina State Bar in attendance, is three dollars ($3.00).  This amount shall be allocated as follows:  one dollar and twenty-five cents ($1.25) to the Board of Continuing Legal Education to administer the CLE program; one dollar ($1.00) to the Chief Justice's Commission on Professionalism; fifty cents ($.050) to the North Carolina Equal Access to Justice Commission; and twenty-five cents ($0.25) to the State Bar to administer the funds distributed to the commissions.  The fee is computed as shown in the following formula and example which assumes a 6-hour course attended by 100 North Carolina lawyers seeking CLE credit:

 

Fee:  $3.00 x Total Approved CLE Hours (6.0) x Number of NC Attendees (100) = Total Sponsor Fee ($1800)

 

(b)  Attendee Fee - The attendee fee is paid by the North Carolina attorney who requests credit for a program for which no sponsor fee was paid. An attorney will be invoiced for any attendees fees owed following the submission of the attorney's annual report form pursuant to Rule .1522(a) of this Subchapter.  Payment shall be remitted within 30 days of the date of the invoice.  The amount of the fee, per approved CLE hour for which the attorney claims credit, is three dollars ($3.00).  This amount shall be allocated as follows:  one dollar and twenty-five cents ($1.25) to the Board of Continuing Legal Education to administer the CLE program; one dollar ($1.00) to the Chief Justice's Commission on Professionalism; fifty cents ($.050) to the North Carolina Equal Access to Justice Commission; and twenty-five cents ($0.25) to the State Bar to administer the funds distributed to the commissions.  It is computed as shown in the following formula and example which assumes that the attorney attended an activity approved for 3 hours of CLE credit:

 

Fee:  $3.00 x Total Approved CLE hours (3.0) = Total Attendee Fee ($9.00)

 

(c)  Fee Review - The board will review the level of the fee at least annually and adjust it as necessary to maintain adequate finances for prudent operation of the board in a nonprofit manner.  The council shall annually review the assessments for the Chief Justice's Commission on Professionalism and the North Carolina Equal Access to Justice Commission and adjust them as necessary to maintain adequate finances for the operation of the commissions.

(d)  Uniform Application and Financial Responsibility - The fee shall be applied uniformly without exceptions or other preferential treatment for a sponsor or attendee.  The board shall make reasonable efforts to collect the sponsor fee from the sponsor of a CLE program when appropriate under Rule .1606(a) above.  However, whenever a sponsor fee is not paid by the sponsor of a program, regardless of the reason, the lawyer requesting CLE credit for the program shall be financially responsible for the fee.

 

History Note:        Authority - Order of the North Carolina Supreme Court, October 7, 1987, 318 N.C. 711;

Readopted Eff. December 8, 1994;

Amended Eff. October 8, 2009; February 5, 2009; October 1, 2003; December 30, 1998.