Illinois Board of Admissions to the Bar
Limited Admission of Legal Service Program Lawyers Under Rule 717
_____________________________________________________
Illinois Board of Admissions to the Bar
625 South College Street
Springfield IL 62704
Phone 217-522-5917;
Fax 217-522-3728 and -9327
INFORMATION AND INSTRUCTIONS FOR COMPLETING APPLICATION FOR LIMITED ADMISSION OF LEGAL SERVICE PROGRAM LAWYERS UNDER RULE 717
The Board of Admissions generally communicates with applicants and others electronically. All information and announcements are posted at www.ilbaradmissions.org, and much of our correspondence is conducted by email. Accordingly, each applicant is required regularly to review all announcements and information posted on our website, to maintain at all times a current email address on his or her personal IL Bar Admission registration page, and regularly to read all email sent to that address. It is each applicant's responsibility to add @ILBarAdmissions.org to his/her email address book and make sure that his/her internet service provider is not incorrectly filtering correspondence from @ILBarAdmissions.org. Accordingly, every applicant is charged with knowledge of all announcements and information posted on our website and with receipt of all correspondence sent to the email address provided on his or her personal IL Bar Admissions registration page.
I. Eligibility
Limited admission of legal service program lawyers is authorized and governed by Illinois Supreme Court Rule 717.
Click here to read Rule 717 »
A lawyer admitted to the practice of law in another state or the District of Columbia who meets the educational requirements of Rule 703 may receive a limited license to practice law in this state when the lawyer is employed in Illinois for an organized legal service, public defender or law school clinical program providing legal assistance to indigent persons.
Click here to read Rule 703 »
II. Making Application
Making application for limited admission of legal service program lawyers pursuant to Rule 717 is a two-step process.
The first step involves the completion and electronic filing from this website of the Application for Limited Admission as a Legal Service Program Lawyer form, the Character and Fitness Questionnaire, the Authorization and Release form, and the Illinois State Police Criminal History form.
The second step involves printing additional paper forms, completion of such forms by the applicant and his or her employer, gathering additional required external documents, including certificates from courts and disciplinary authorities, and filing with the Board all such completed paper forms and additional required external documents. The application filing fee may either be charged on our website to a Visa or MasterCard account, as part of step one, or submitted to the Board in proper paper form as part of the paper portion of the application.
Form and document filing checklist (see below for an explanation of each item)
1. Forms filed ONLY electronically and NOT in paper form
a. Application for Limited Admission as Legal Services Program Lawyer;
b. Character and Fitness Questionnaire;
c. Illinois State Police Criminal History form;
d. Illinois Authorization and Release.
2. Forms and documents filed ONLY in paper form
a. All external records and other documents, such as court, military, and police records, that must be submitted to the Board as a result of your answers to the Character and Fitness Questionnaire;
b. Certification of Applicant's Employer Pursuant to Rule 717;
c. Certification of Juris Doctorate;
d. Certificate(s) of Good Standing from the Clerk of the Supreme Court of each jurisdiction in which you are licensed;
e. Certificate(s) from the disciplinary authority of each jurisdiction in which you are admitted;
f. Court purposes driving record(s) for the previous ten years;
g. If not charged to a credit card from our website immediately prior to the electronic filing of forms, the $100 filing fee in the form of a certified check, cashier's check, or money order made payable to the Illinois Board of Admissions to the Bar. Personal, corporate, law firm, and travelers' checks will not be accepted.
A. Here is what you must do at this website.
1. Complete the Application for Limited Admission as a Legal Services Program Lawyer.
2. Complete the Character and Fitness Questionnaire. In doing so PLEASE NOTE the following:
NAME. Each applicant's name will appear on his or her license to practice law EXACTLY as set forth on the character and fitness questionnaire. Please make certain that your name is typed accurately and exactly as you wish it to appear on your license to practice law;
MAILING ADDRESS. This address will determine the geographic assignment of the applicant's file for purposes of character & fitness review. A personal interview with a member of the Character and Fitness Committee may be required; applications are not subject to geographic reassignment after having been referred to a member of the Committee. Applicants with Missouri mailing addresses in the St. Louis area will be referred to a Committee member in southern Illinois, and all others outside Illinois will be assigned to a Committee member in Cook County (Chicago).
3. Complete the Illinois State Police Criminal History form.
4. After completing the Application for Limited Admission as a Legal Services Program Lawyer, the Character and Fitness Questionnaire, and the Illinois State Police Criminal History form, print one paper copy of each form for your records; you will NOT file paper copies of the foregoing forms with the Board, and the Board will NOT at any time provide paper copies to you.
5. If you wish to charge the filing fee to a Visa or MasterCard account, you must do so
after you electronically file the foregoing forms. A $15 convenience fee will be added to each credit card payment. If you do not wish to charge the filing fee to a credit card, please follow instructions below for submitting your fee in appropriate paper form.
6. Type your name onto the Illinois Authorization and Release. The Authorization and Release is filed electronically, NOT in paper form.
7. Collectively and electronically file the completed Application for Limited Admission as a Legal Services Program Lawyer, the Character and Fitness Questionnaire, the Illinois State Police Criminal History form, and the Illinois Authorization and Release. Once again, these forms are NOT filed in paper form.
8. Key your name into the text box on the fourth line of the Certification of Applicant's Employer Pursuant to Rule 717 form immediately before the words "the employer of" and print one copy of the form for forwarding to your employer. The Certification of Applicant's Employer form is NOT electronically filed.
9. Print one copy of the Certification of Juris Doctorate for forwarding to the dean of your law school for completion and return to you for filing with the balance of the paper portion of your application; the Certification of Juris Doctorate is NOT electronically filed.
B. Here is what else you must do to prepare the necessary PAPER forms and any external PAPER documents for filing with the Board.
1. Gather any and all external records and other documents, such as court, military, and police records, that must be submitted to the Board as a result of your answers to the Character and Fitness Questionnaire.
2. Obtain court purposes driving records for every jurisdiction in which you have held a driver’s license for the previous ten years.
3. Forward the Certification of Applicant's Employer Pursuant to Rule 717 form to the appropriate person for completion and return to you for filing.
4. Forward the Certification of Juris Doctorate to the dean of your law school for completion and return to you for filing. The Dean's Certificate must evidence receipt of a first degree in law from a law school approved by the American Bar Association at the time of your graduation.
C. Here is what you must do to prepare the balance of your paper application and fee for filing with the Board.
1. Obtain from the Clerk of the Supreme Court in every jurisdiction in which you have ever been licensed a Certificate of Good Standing certifying that you have been admitted to and are now a member in good standing of the bar of that jurisdiction. The form will be supplied by each such jurisdiction. Such certificates must be obtained from the Supreme Court of each country, US state, US territory, and the District of Columbia in which you are admitted; you need not obtain such certificates from the system of federal courts.
2. Obtain from the disciplinary authority of each jurisdiction in which you have ever been admitted a certificate either stating that you have not been suspended, disbarred, or disciplined and that no charges of professional misconduct are pending OR identifying any suspensions, disbarments, or disciplinary sanctions, and any pending charges; form will be supplied by each such authority.
3. If your application filing fee was not charged on our website to a Visa or MasterCard account, you must obtain a certified check, cashier's check, or money order in the amount of $100 made payable to the Illinois Board of Admissions to the Bar; personal, corporate, law firm, and travelers' checks will not be accepted.
4. For your own records, make copies of everything: the executed Certification of Applicant's Employer Pursuant to Rule 717, the executed Certification of Juris Doctorate, the Certificate(s) of Good Standing, the certificate(s) from disciplinary authorities, all external documents that must be filed as a result of your answers to the Character and Fitness Questionnaire, and all forms and documents submitted electronically to the Board. The Board will NOT at any time provide copies of the form or documents to you.
5. No action will be taken on your application until the Board receives all required documents and fees.