CLEC study guide
CLEC · Work through your exam, one topic at a time.
The Certified Legal Ethics Counsel (CLEC) credential is a professional certification for lawyers, compliance officers, and firm ethics advisers who want to demonstrate specialized command of legal ethics and professional responsibility rules. It signals to clients, employers, and disciplinary bodies that the holder can identify and resolve ethical problems systematically rather than by intuition. The CLEC study guide has 8 sections and about 3,585 words.
01Attorney-Client Relationship and Confidentiality
This domain tests when a lawyer-client relationship arises, how far the Rule 1.6 duty of confidentiality reaches, and how that duty differs from the evidentiary privilege. Most lost marks come from candidates who use 'confidential' and 'privileged' as if they were the same thing.
452 words, about 2 min02Conflicts of Interest
The conflicts domain separates candidates who can name a rule from those who can apply it. Expect fact patterns involving two current clients, a former client, or a personal interest, and expect to be asked not only whether a conflict exists but who must consent, in what form, and whether consent can cure it at all.
489 words, about 2 min03Competence, Diligence, and Communication
This domain tests whether you can spot a competence, diligence, or communication failure, name the rule, and identify the remedy. Discipline does not require a bad outcome; a neglected docketed deadline is enough.
442 words, about 2 min04Fees, Billing, and Client Property
This domain tests the intersection of fee agreements, trust accounting, and the duty to deliver client property. The recurring exam question is: whose money is it, and where must it sit right now?
434 words, about 2 min05Candor Toward the Tribunal and Fairness to Opposing Counsel
The candor and fairness domain rewards precision. The exam expects you to know that candor duties override the client's wishes and continue after withdrawal, and that zealous advocacy never licenses obstruction.
423 words, about 2 min06Advertising, Solicitation, and Bar Admission
This domain mixes marketing regulation with bar-admission integrity. The exam usually asks you to classify a communication as advertising or solicitation, then test it against Rules 7.1 through 7.5 and Rule 8.1.
442 words, about 2 min07Professional Misconduct, Discipline, and Reporting Obligations
This domain tests the outer boundary of the rules: what conduct is sanctionable, how discipline differs from malpractice, and when a lawyer must report another lawyer. Misconduct includes violating or attempting to violate a rule, or knowingly assisting another to do so; committing a criminal act that reflects adversely on honesty, trustworthiness, or fitness; engaging in fraud, deceit, or misrepresentation; conduct prejudicial to the administration of justice; stating or implying an ability to influence a government agency or official improperly; knowingly assisting a judge or juror in misconduct; and, where adopted, harassment or discrimination in conduct related to the practice of law.
417 words, about 2 min08Law Firm Management and Supervisory Responsibilities
This domain tests whether you can assign responsibility correctly: manager, supervising lawyer, subordinate lawyer, or nonlawyer employee. The exam often places the violation in a nonlawyer's hands and asks who answers for it.
486 words, about 2 min