Bill Text: IL HR0961 | 2019-2020 | 101st General Assembly | Introduced

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Bill Title: Urges the Illinois Supreme Court to permanently amend Illinois Supreme Court Rule 711 to include paragraph (g), to expand the option for practicing law to other graduates of ABA accredited law schools without taking the Illinois bar examination and to provide for an automatic admission to the Illinois bar for graduates who complete 360 hours of legal services as allowed under paragraph (g) of Rule 711 and comply with all registration and fee requirements of the Illinois Attorney Registration and Disciplinary Commission.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2021-01-13 - Chief Sponsor Changed to Rep. Thaddeus Jones [HR0961 Detail]

Download: Illinois-2019-HR0961-Introduced.html

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HOUSE RESOLUTION
WHEREAS, The Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) has
resulted in declarations by the World Health Organization, the
United States government, and the Governor of Illinois that
COVID-19 presents a severe public health emergency; and
WHEREAS, The severe public health emergency presented by
COVID-19 is ongoing and continues to threaten the health and
safety of Illinoisans; and
WHEREAS, The Illinois judicial branch was required to
reschedule, delay, and modify the manner in which the Illinois
bar examination was held in September 2020, which continues to
present challenges for the upcoming February 2021 bar
examination; and
WHEREAS, This delay has left many graduates of law schools
in Illinois at a disadvantage, because they cannot begin their
careers or practice law without passing the bar examination;
and
WHEREAS, This delay presents increasingly severe
disadvantages to law school graduates who do not have the same
financial advantages as their peers; and

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WHEREAS, Law school students and graduates are currently
allowed to practice law in certain limited capacities under the
Illinois Supreme Court Rule 711; and
WHEREAS, The Illinois Supreme Court temporarily amended
Illinois Supreme Court Rule 711 to add paragraph (g) on July 2,
2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic; and
WHEREAS, Paragraph (g) of Rule 711 allows December 2019 and
all 2020 Juris Doctor graduates of law schools accredited by
the Council of the Section of Legal Education and Admissions to
the Bar of the American Bar Association (ABA accredited law
schools) and Juris Doctor graduates of ABA accredited law
schools from prior years who have been serving as judicial law
clerks since their graduation who have not yet taken a bar
examination but have completed all educational requirements to
be eligible to take the Illinois bar examination and submitted
an application to take the September 2020 or February 2021
Illinois bar examinations to work as licensed under Rule 711
without application to the Administrative Director; and
WHEREAS, Paragraph (g) allows law school graduates to
utilize Rule 711 in expanded contexts, like law firms or other
private legal departments or organizations to temporarily
practice law in light of the COVID-19 pandemic; therefore, be
it

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RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE ONE
HUNDRED FIRST GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that
we urge the Illinois Supreme Court to permanently amend
Illinois Supreme Court Rule 711 to include paragraph (g) to
expand the option for practicing law to other graduates of ABA
accredited law schools without taking the Illinois bar
examination and to provide for an automatic admission to the
Illinois bar for graduates who complete 360 hours of legal
services as allowed under paragraph (g) of Rule 711 and comply
with all registration and fee requirements of the Illinois
Attorney Registration and Disciplinary Commission; and be it
further
RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be
delivered to the Illinois Supreme Court.