Illinois Board of Admissions to the Bar
Admission on Motion PQ _____________________________________________________ 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 PQ Making application for admission on motion in Illinois is a two step process. Initially, before you may begin to complete application forms for admission on motion, you must complete the Preliminary Questionnaire (PQ) on this website, file it electronically, and receive written approval from the Board. After your PQ has been reviewed, you will be advised by email that it has been provisionally approved, disapproved, or more information is needed. After your PQ has been provisionally approved, you will be authorized to complete and submit formal application for admission on motion in Illinois. Do not complete application forms for admission on motion until you are authorized to do so. The primary practice and other qualifying requirements for admission on motion under Rule 705 are outlined below. Please read and understand these requirements before making formal application under Rule 705. Pursuant to Illinois Supreme Court Rule 706, all application fees are nonrefundable and shall be paid in advance. Accordingly, fees accompanying formal applications for admission on motion will not be refunded on the basis of failure to qualify, change of plans, or any other basis. The Board of Admissions is able to determine whether an applicant qualifies for admission on motion only on the basis of an application completed and submitted under Rule 705. Provisional approval of a PQ is based on the assumption that the applicant will be able to document compliance with the prior practice and other requirements set forth below and that s/he will provide specific, concrete, and empirically verifiable details of plans for practice in Illinois. In the latter regard, the Board will accord provisional PQ approval on the basis of an applicant's expressed intention to obtain employment, handle an existing and ongoing stream of Illinois legal work, or establish a law office in Illinois. However, the Board will not recommend a motion applicant's admission to the bar unless and until s/he provides verifiable evidence of an accepted offer of legal employment, verifiable evidence of having been retained to handle a substantial and ongoing stream of Illinois legal work that will by its nature require his or her presence in Illinois for at least 500 hours per year, or a detailed and verifiable business and marketing plan for opening an Illinois law office, along with information regarding anticipated client base and evidence of progress toward implementation. For additional information, please read the Information and Instructions for Completing Application for Admission on Motion. Admission on motion is authorized and governed by Illinois Supreme Court Rule 705. Click here to read Rule 705 » I. Practice requirements of Rule 705. A. Prior practice requirements. Subsection (b) of Rule 705 requires that an applicant be licensed to practice law before the highest court of law in a reciprocal jurisdiction and that s/he have been actively and continuously engaged in the qualified practice of law, as defined by the Rule, for at least 3 of the 5 years immediately preceding his or her application for admission in Illinois; additionally, subject to certain exceptions set forth below, the applicant must have practiced either IN OR THE LAW OF the reciprocal jurisdiction from which s/he is applying Accordingly, an applicant for admission on motion must supply proof of practice that is active (sufficient in extent), continuous (sufficient in duration) and qualifying (conducted within or involving the law of the reciprocal jurisdiction). The applicant must be actively licensed to practice law before the highest court of law in the reciprocal jurisdiction in which his or her qualifying practice occured. 1. Active practice. The Board has determined that an active practice must exceed 500 hours per year. Thus, an applicant for admission on motion must demonstrate that s/he has devoted a minimum of 500 hours to the practice of law during at least 3 of the 5 years immediately preceding his or her application for admission on motion in Illinois. While an attorney may, of course, legitimately practice law for fewer than 500 hours per year in a jurisdiction in which s/he is licensed, such practice is insufficient in extent to meet the "active" engagement required by subsection (b) of the Illinois Rule.
2. Continuous practice. The Board measures the continuity of practice on the basis of the aggregate number of months during which an applicant actually and verifiably devoted a rough minimum of 40 hours to the practice of law. Correspondingly, an applicant for admission on motion is deemed to have engaged in the otherwise qualifying practice of law only for the discrete period of employment or self employment during which s/he actually spent a rough minimum of 40 hours per month doing so. Thus, an applicant for admission on motion must demonstrate that s/he devoted roughly 40 hours per month to the practice of law for at least 36 of the 60 months immediately preceding his or her application for admission on motion in Illinois. 3. Qualifying practice. With specified exceptions, subsection (b) of the Rule also requires that the applicant have practiced "in or the law of" the reciprocal jurisdiction from which s/he is applying during the relevant period. Specified exceptions include employment, regardless of location or substance of practice, as an attorney or judge for a state government or for the Federal government, including the US armed forces, or as a full time teacher of law at a law school approved by the ABA; employment as a judicial clerk is included, provided that the position required licensure as an attorney. The Board has determined that practice "in" a reciprocal jurisdiction requires physical presence, and practicing "the law of" a reciprocal jurisdiction involves matters arising under or governed by the state, district, or local law of such jurisdiction. In the latter regard, please be advised that federal law is NOT the district or local law of the District of Columbia. Thus, an applicant for admission on motion must demonstrate that during at least 5 of the last 7 years s/he practiced law for no fewer than 40 hours per month and 500 hours per year while physically present within the reciprocal state, and/or tending from elsewhere to legal matters arising under or governed by the state, district or local law of such reciprocal state, and/or to employment as a judge or lawyer for state or Federal government, including the US armed forces, or as a full-time teacher of law at an ABA-approved law school. For purposes of computing periods of prior practice, the Board uses the date that the PQ is electronically submitted by the applicant, provided that within 90 days after such date the completed application for admission on motion is properly filed. An application is properly filed when, first, specified forms have been completed and electronically filed, second, the separate paper portion of the application has been completed and properly posted to the Board, and, third, the $800 filing fee has either been charged to a Visa or MasterCard account after the electronic forms were filed or is enclosed in proper form and posted with the separate paper portion of the application. If the completed application and fee are filed more than 90 days after the date the PQ was filed, the date of such later filing will be used for computing periods of prior practice. If an applicant does not receive a responsive email from the Board regarding his/her PQ within 30 days after the electronic submission of the PQ, s/he must within the next 15 days email Paula Ramsey-Brown at PRamsey-Brown@ILBarAdmissions.org to request a response to the PQ. If the applicant timely so emails Paula Ramsey-Brown, then the original 90 day period will be extended to 120 days after the electronic filing of the PQ. If the applicant does not timely so email Paula Ramsey-Brown, then the applicant will be required to begin the process anew by filing a new PQ at such later time, if any,that s/he undertakes to pursue his or her application for admission on motion in Illinois. In the latter event, for purposes of computing periods of prior practice, the Board will use the date the second PQ is electronically submitted, provided that a completed application is filed within 90 days thereafter. B. Required plans for practice in Illinois. Rule 705(h) requires that each applicant establish to the satisfaction of the Board that, upon admission, s/he will engage in the active and continuous practice of law in Illinois. Only applicants who have made definite and verifiable plans actually to practice law, while physically in Illinois, for a minimum of 500 hours per year, on an ongoing basis, will be deemed to have met this requirement of the Rule. Generally, these plans will consist either of an offer of employment that has been accepted or extensive and documented details of the applicant's plans to undertake a solo practice in this state, including a specific and realistic plan for acquiring Illinois clients and providing effective professional services. An applicant whose offices are located outside Illinois must establish an ongoing stream of Illinois legal work that will by its nature require his or her physical presence in this state for at least 500 hours each year. II. Additional requirements A. JD degree from an ABA-approved law school. Rules 705(a) and 703(b) require that an applicant have received a JD degree from a law school approved by the American Bar Association at the time of the applicant's graduation. B. ADMISSION TO THE BAR OF A RECIPROCAL JURISDICTION. Click on the name of the jurisdiction to be taken to its website.
C. MPRE. Rule 705(c) requires than an applicant have passed the Multistate Professional Responsibility Examination (MPRE) in Illinois or in any jurisdiction in which it was administered. An applicant who has previously passed the MPRE must arrange direct forwarding by the National Conference of Bar Examiners to the Board at its offices in Springfield of an official report of his or her previously passing MPRE score. An applicant who has not previously passed the MPRE will be required to write and pass the examination with Illinois' minimum scaled score of 80 points. No exceptions are made to this requirement. D. NO PRIOR FAILURE OF ILLINOIS BAR EXAMINATION. An applicant who has previously failed the Illinois bar examination is not eligible for admission on motion. |
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