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ILLINOIS BOARD of ADMISSIONS to THE BAR

ILLINOIS BOARD of ADMISSIONS to THE BAR

Information & Applications » Rule 705 - Admission on Motion » Rule 705 Instructions


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Illinois Board of Admissions to the Bar
Admission on Motion
_____________________________________________________

Illinois Board of Admissions to the Bar
625 South College Street
Springfield IL 62704
Phone 217-522-5917;
Fax 217-522-3728 and -6589

INFORMATION AND INSTRUCTIONS FOR COMPLETING APPLICATION FOR ADMISSION ON MOTION

The Board of Admissions to the Bar generally communicates with applicants and others electronically rather than on paper. All information and announcements are posted at www.ilbaradmissions.org, and much of our correspondence is conducted by email. As an applicant, you are required regularly to review all announcements and information posted on our website www.ILBarAdmissions.org, to maintain at all times a current email address on your personal IL Bar Admissions registration page, and regularly to read all email sent to that address. It is your responsibility to add @ILBarAdmissions.org to your email address book and make sure that your internet service provider is not incorrectly filtering correspondence from @ILBarAdmissions.org. Accordingly, you are 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 your personal IL Bar Admissions registration page.

The primary practice and other qualifying requirements for admission on motion are outlined in Illinois Supreme Court Rule 705. Click here to read Rule 705. Please read and understand these requirements before making application under Rule 705.

I. FEE PAYMENT OPTIONS

The application fee for admission on motion is $1,500. Pursuant to Illinois Supreme Court Rule 706, the fee is nonrefundable and shall be paid in advance. A fee will not be refunded on any basis, including failure to qualify or change of plans.

The application fee may be paid in one of two ways. First, immediately after electronically filing your application forms, you may charge the fee on our website to an authorized credit card. A $15 convenience fee will be added to each credit card payment. Note that the electronically-filed application is automatically and simultaneously submitted with the credit card payment. If the credit card payment is denied, the application will not be automatically and electronically submitted. It is your responsibility to ensure that both payment and application are processed and received appropriately and timely.

Alternatively, you may submit the fee with the paper portion of your application. The Board will accept a certified check, cashier's check, or money order made payable to the Illinois Board of Admissions to the Bar in the correct amount only. The Board will not accept cash, personal checks, corporate checks, law firm checks, or travelers' checks. Your name exactly as it appears on your character and fitness questionnaire must be clearly printed on the check or money order.

II. REQUIRED DOCUMENTATION

Form and document filing CHECKLIST (further explanation of the forms will appear below):

Forms filed ONLY Electronically and NOT in paper form 

1. Character and Fitness Questionnaire;

2. Illinois State Police Criminal History form; 

3. Illinois Authorization and Release form;

Forms and documents filed ONLY in paper form 
1. All external records and other documents, such as court, military, and police records, that are required to be submitted to the Board as a result of your answers to the Character and Fitness Questionnaire;

2. Certification of Juris Doctorate;

3. Three Attorney Character Verification forms;

4. a. Certificate(s) of Judge OR
b. Affidavits of 3 lawyers
from each jurisdiction in which your qualifying practice occurred;

5. Your personal affidavit regarding your qualifying practice;

6. Certificate of Good Standing from the clerk of the supreme court of each jurisdiction in which you are licensed;

7. Proof from NCBE of your passing the MPRE if you have been licensed and practiced law for fewer than 15 years; 

8. Court purpose driving record from every jurisdiction in which you held a driver’s license for the past ten years;

9. If not charged to a credit card from our website immediately prior to the electronic filing of forms, a certified check, cashier's check, or money order in the amount of $1,500 made payable to the Illinois Board of Admissions to the Bar.

A. Certification of Juris Doctorate. The Certification of Juris Doctorate must be completed by the dean of your law school and forwarded to the Illinois Board of Admissions to the Bar for filing. The Certificate must evidence your receipt of a first degree in law from a law school approved by the American Bar Association at the time you graduated. The completed Certification of Juris Doctorate is to be filed as part of the PAPER portion of your application and NOT electronically.

B. Three Character Verification forms. Each of these 3 forms must be completed by a lawyer licensed and practicing in Illinois who is unrelated to you by blood, adoption, or marriage and who is other than the employers, former employers, and character references listed elsewhere in your application and other than lawyers and/or judges enlisted as third-party proof of your practice, described in Paragraph C. If you have never lived or worked in Illinois and do not know 3 Illinois lawyers meeting the requirements of this paragraph, you may substitute lawyers currently licensed and practicing in the jurisdiction where your most recent practice occurred and who otherwise meet the requirements of this paragraph. The Character Verification forms are NOT electronically filed.

C. Third party proof of your prior qualifying practice. From the jurisdiction in which your qualifying practice occurred (or from each such jurisdiction if there is more than one), you must supply EITHER a Certificate of Judge completed by a judge of a court of general jurisdiction in such state who has independent, personal knowledge of your practice OR the self-composed affidavits of 3 lawyers licensed and practicing in such jurisdiction(s) who have independent, personal knowledge of your practice.
1. Certificate of Judge. If you submit a Certificate of Judge as proof of your qualifying practice in one or more jurisdictions, the Certificate must recite as the basis for the judge's independent, personal knowledge either your practice before such judge or your other, specified professional or personal interaction with such judge; such practice or other professional or social interaction must have occurred with some regularity throughout the period in question. The Board will not accept a Certificate of Judge that is based on information recently conveyed by you, inspection of supreme court or bar association records, or the like.

As proof of your practice as an attorney, judge or qualifying judicial clerk for the federal government, a Certificate of Judge may also be completed by a US District Court judge sitting in the jurisdiction in which your qualifying practice occurred. Such US District Court judge may adapt the form as necessary to reflect his or her judicial status; however, requirements for the basis of the judge's personal knowledge of your practice remain unchanged. In the absence of compelling circumstances and prior written approval from the Board, a Certificate of Judge may not be completed by a US District Court judge as proof of nonfederal practice occurring from outside the jurisdiction. As proof of practice of the state or local law of a jurisdiction conducted from outside such jurisdiction, the Board requires either a certificate completed by a judge of a court of general jurisdiction in the jurisdiction or the self- composed affidavits of 3 lawyers licensed and practicing in such jurisdiction.

2. Self-composed affidavits of 3 lawyers licensed and engaged in the active practice of law in the jurisdiction in which your qualifying practice occurred. If you elect to submit the self-composed affidavits of 3 lawyers licensed and practicing in the jurisdiction in which your qualifying practice occurred (or such affidavits of 3 such lawyers in each such jurisdiction, if more than one), each affidavit must fully describe the nature of your practice (e.g., private, government, corporate, legal services, law professorship), the substance of the law you practiced (e.g., federal patent law, Ohio domestic relations law), the extent of your practice (the number of hours devoted to such practice on a specified monthly and annual basis), and the location(s) of your practice throughout the period in question. Each such affidavit must also recite as the basis for the lawyer's knowledge of your practice either professional interaction or social interaction that occurred with some regularity throughout the period in question.

To avoid any question concerning the validity of your affidavits, you should ensure that they are subscribed, sworn, and notarized. Illinois traditionally has been strict about what is considered an affidavit:

An affidavit is simply a declaration, on oath, in writing sworn to before some person who has authority under the law to administer oaths. A writing which does not appear to have been sworn to before any officer does not constitute an affidavit. Roth v. Illinois Farmers Ins. Co., 202 Ill. 2d 490, 493–94, 782 N.E.2d 212, 214 (2002); accord People v. Allen, 2015 IL 113135, ¶ 31, 32 N.E.3d 615, 625.

The Board will accept only original affidavits conforming to the Supreme Court’s standards stated in Roth and Allen; copies or email attachments are unacceptable and will delay the processing of the application.  

D. Your personal affidavit: This affidavit must contain specific and complete details of your qualifying practice during at least 3 of the 5 years immediately preceding your application for admission on motion in Illinois. Such affidavit must fully describe the nature of your practice (e.g., private, government, corporate, legal services, law professorship), the substance of the law you practiced (e.g., federal patent law, Ohio domestic relations law), the extent of your practice (on a specified annual and monthly basis, the number of years during which you practiced law for a minimum of 1000 hours per year and roughly 80 hours per month during 36 of the 60 months immediately preceding the application), and the location(s) of your practice throughout the period in question. Such affidavit must also advise whether on the basis of records kept by your firm(s) or other employer(s) in the normal course of business you are able to document that you devoted roughly 80 hours per month and no fewer than 1000 hours per year to such practice and, if not, describe the alternative basis on which you are able to document this information. Undocumented practice will not be considered by the Board. 

The Board will accept only original affidavits conforming to the Supreme Court’s standards stated in Roth and Allen; copies or email attachments are unacceptable and will delay the processing of the application.

E. Certificate of Good Standing: You must obtain from the clerk of the supreme court of each jurisdiction in which you have ever been licensed a document certifying that you have been admitted to and are now a member in good standing of the bar of that jurisdiction. Such certificates must be obtained from the supreme court of each country, US State, or US Territory (including the District of Columbia) in which you are admitted; however, you need not obtain such certificates from the system of federal courts, unless you are relying predominantly on qualifying prior practice in the federal court system. In that event, you must also obtain a certificate of good standing from each federal court where you maintain an active and continuous practice. You must be on active status in at least one jurisdiction.

F. MPRE Score: If you have been licensed to practice law for fewer than 15 years, Rule 705(c) requires that you have passed the Multistate Professional Responsibility Examination (MPRE) in Illinois or in any jurisdiction in which it was administered. You must have achieved a scaled score of 80 or more points. You must have your MPRE score sent to the Illinois Board of Admissions to the Bar at 625 South College Street, Springfield, IL 62704, by the National Conference of Bar Examiners (NCBE), which administers the examination. You can register for the MPRE online at http://www.ncbex.org/multistate-tests/mpre/.

If you have previously taken the MPRE and wish to transfer your score to Illinois, you can download the MPRE Score Report Request form http://www.ncbex.org/fileadmin/mediafiles/downloads/Test_PDFs/MPRE_PDFs/MPRE-ScoreReportRequestForm.pdf.

Alternatively, you may forward a check for $15 made payable to the NCBE with a written request for transfer to MPRE Records Department, 301 ACT Drive, PO Box 451, Iowa City IA 52243-0451. Include the following information in your request: full name, address, SSN, date of birth, MPRE test date, signature, and the request that your score be sent to ILLINOIS. Score reports with valid scores sent to Illinois stamped "unofficial" by the NCBE will be accepted. If you have questions regarding the MPRE, please call 319-341-2500. E-mail mpre.registration@act.org for registration information or mpre.score@act.org for scoring information. 

G. Court purpose driving record: You must obtain your driving records for the last 10 years in all jurisdictions you have held a driver’s license.

III. MAKING APPLICATION

Applying for admission on motion is a two-step process. The first step involves the completion and electronic filing from this website of specified application forms. The second step involves the printing of additional paper forms, their completion by you and/or specified third parties, the drafting of affidavits by you and, in some instances, additional third parties, and the filing with the Board of such completed paper forms and any additional required external paper documents.

A. Here is what you must do at this website.

1. Type your answers onto the Character and Fitness Questionnaire. In doing so PLEASE NOTE the following:

NAME. Your name will appear on your law license EXACTLY as set forth on the character and fitness questionnaire. Please make certain that your name is typed exactly as you wish it to appear on your license;

MAILING ADDRESS. All communications, when not able to be emailed, will be sent to the mailing address entered on your character and fitness questionnaire. This address will also determine to which judicial district your file is assigned 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).

2. Type your answers onto the Illinois State Police Criminal History form.

3. After completing the Character and Fitness Questionnaire, and the ISP Criminal History form, print one paper copy of each form for your records; you will NOT file paper copies of these forms with the Board, and the Board will NOT at any time provide paper copies to you.

4.  Type your name onto the Illinois Authorization and Release. The Authorization and Release is filed electronically, NOT in paper form.

5. Collectively and electronically file the completed Character and Fitness Questionnaire, the Authorization and Release, and the ISP Criminal History form. Once again, these forms are NOT filed in paper form.

6. Type your name onto the line following the words "and that" on the second line of the Certification of Juris Doctorate. Print and send one copy of the Certificate 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.

7. Type your name into the text box at the top of the Character Verification form and print 3 copies of the form; Character Verification forms are NOT electronically filed.

8. If you elect to submit a Certificate of Judge as proof of your qualifying prior practice of law in one or more jurisdictions, key your name onto the line following the words "Name of applicant" on the first line of the Certificate and print the appropriate number of Certificates of Judge; the Certificate of Judge 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 all external records and other documents, such as court, military, and police records required to be submitted to the Board as a result of your answers to the Character and Fitness Questionnaire.

2. Forward the Certification of Juris Doctorate to the dean of your law school for completion and return to you for filing.

3. Distribute a Character Verification form to each of 3 lawyers licensed and practicing in Illinois and meeting the additional requirements set forth in paragraph II-B above for completion and return to you.

4. If you elect to submit a Certificate of Judge as proof of your qualifying practice of law in one or more jurisdictions, forward such Certificate (or each such Certificate if there is more than one) to a judge meeting and following the requirements set forth in paragraph II-C-1 above for completion and return to you.

C. Here is what you must do to prepare the balance of your paper application for filing with the Board. 

1. If, as proof of your qualifying practice of law in one or more jurisdictions during at least 3 of the last 5 years, you elect to submit the self-composed affidavits of 3 lawyers licensed and practicing in such jurisdiction (or each such jurisdiction if there is more than one), each of whom meets and follows the requirements set forth in paragraph II-C-2 above, then you must request and obtain such affidavits from each of the lawyers involved; no form is supplied for such affidavits.

2. As additional proof of such qualifying practice, you must prepare your own self composed affidavit in accordance with directions set forth in paragraph II-D above; no form is supplied for this affidavit.

3. Obtain from the clerk of the supreme court in every jurisdiction in which you are 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 (see paragraph II-E above for important additional information); form will be supplied by each such jurisdiction.

4. Obtain from the National Conference of Bar Examiners (NCBE) proof that you have passed the MPRE in Illinois or in any jurisdiction in which it was administered if you have been licensed and practiced law for fewer than 15 years (see paragraph II-F above for important additional information).

5. For your own records, make copies of everything: the completed Certification of Juris Doctorate, completed Character Verification forms, any completed Certificates of Judge, any proof of practice affidavits executed by attorneys, your own personal affidavits regarding your prior practice, Certificate(s) of your Good Standing, and all external documents that must be filed as a result of your answers to the Character and Fitness and Questionnaire. These copies should be retained with your copies of all forms and documents submitted electronically to the Board. Copies of forms and documents submitted to the Board electronically and/or in paper form will not be subsequently available from the Board. 

6. Be aware that no action will be taken on your application until all required documents are submitted and the fee is received.

I have read and understand Rule 705 and these instructions.
Yes
No