Illinois Board of Admissions to the Bar
Law Student Registration _____________________________________________________ Illinois Board of Admissions to the Bar 625 South College Street Springfield IL 62704 Phone 217-522-5917; Fax 217-522-3728 and -6589 INSTRUCTIONS FOR LAW STUDENT REGISTRATION Applicants must read and acknowledge their understanding of these instructions before obtaining access to LSR forms. Notice to All Applicants. The Board of Admissions increasingly 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. 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 Admissions 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. Nota Bene: Every applicant is charged with knowledge of all announcements and information posted on our website and with receipt of all email sent to the email address provided on his or her personal IL Bar Admissions registration page. Warning. These instructions and the attendant forms are ONLY for Law Student Registration (LSR) that is prior to and separate from registration for an Illinois bar examination. Applicants who wish to register at this time for the next scheduled bar exam SHALL NOT file a LSR application; such applicants must apply to write the next scheduled exam instead. Applicants who have completed 2 years of law school and applicants who expect to be eligible to register for the second succeeding bar exam SHALL NOT file a LSR application without the prior written authorization of the Board. The Board will authorize such filing only on the basis of recently occurring or recently discovered matters of significant character and fitness concern. All LSR applicants must read and acknowledge their understanding of Supreme Court Rules 704 and 706. Click here to read Rules 704 and 706 » General Information. All applicants for admission on examination in Illinois must file a Character and Fitness Questionnaire. Fees for filing this questionnaire are reduced from $450 to $100 when it is timely submitted during an applicant's first year of law school as part of a LSR application. Applicants seeking an early interim character and fitness determination and/or reduced filing fees must file a Law Student Registration application in accordance with the deadlines and fees set forth in the following paragraph. Pursuant to Supreme Court Rules 704 and 706, a timely LSR application must be filed with the Illinois Board of Admissions to the Bar no later than the first day of March following the student's commencement of law school; provided, however, that a student who commences law school after the first day of January and before the first day of March in any calendar year shall file such timely LSR application no later than the first day of July following his or her commencement of law school. Upon payment of the entire $450 filing fee, any applicant seeking to initiate the character and fitness process prior to and separate from his or her registration for an Illinois bar examination may also file a LSR application after the applicable deadline during the SECOND year of law school. The Board strongly recommends that any applicant with significant matters of character and fitness concern file a LSR application as soon as possible following commencement of law school. The failure of an applicant with significant matters of character and fitness concern to file a timely LSR application will delay character and fitness investigation and review. This delay may render the applicant ineligible to participate in the regularly scheduled Admission Ceremony following the bar exam. For an applicant required by Supreme Court Rule 704(b) to obtain character and fitness approval before s/he will be permitted to write the bar exam, this delay may render the applicant ineligible to sit for one or more bar exams following graduation from law school. However, for an applicant who fails to file a timely LSR application during the first year of law school and who has no significant matters of character and fitness concern, there is no financial advantage in filing a Character and Fitness Questionnaire as part of a LSR application after the first year deadline, and the Board does not require it. Accordingly, any applicant who fails to file a timely Law Student Registration Application during the first year of law school and who has no reason to initiate the character and fitness process prior to and separate from his or her registration for an Illinois bar exam should bypass the Law Student Registration process and postpone filing the Character and Fitness Questionnaire until s/he applies to take an Illinois bar exam. General filing instructions. All in accordance with the detailed instructions set forth below, filing a LSR application is a TWO STEP PROCESS. The LSR fee either may be charged on our website to an authorized credit card, as part of step one, or submitted to the Board in proper paper form, along with the Authorization and Release form and external documents that are not electronically filed, as part of step two. FIRST STEP. The Character and Fitness Questionnaire, the Illinois State Police Criminal History form, and the Notice and Acknowledgment form must be completed and filed electronically from this website; applicants who wish to pay the LSR application fee by authorized credit card must do so immediately after filing their electronic forms. ALL APPLICANTS, INCLUDING ALL APPLICANTS WHO PAY BY CREDIT CARD, MUST SUBMIT IN PAPER FORM THE EXECUTED AND NOTARIZED AUTHORIZATION AND RELEASE FORM, ALONG WITH ANY REQUIRED EXTERNAL DOCUMENTS AND ANY UNPAID FEE AS PROVIDED BELOW. FAILURE TO DO SO WILL IN ALL CASES RESULT IN IMMEDIATE ASSESSMENT OF THE ENTIRE $450 CHARACTER AND FITNESS FILING FEE AND/OR REJECTION OF YOUR APPLICATION. SECOND STEP. The Authorization and Release form must be printed, dated and signed before a notary public, formally notarized, and properly posted to the Board in paper form, along with all external documents that must be submitted as a result of the applicant's answers to the Character and Fitness Questionnaire, and, if applicable, the correct filing fee in proper paper form; any applicant who did not charge the LSR fee to an authorized credit card as a part of step one must post as part of the paper portion of his or her application a certified check, cashier's check, or money order made payable to the Board in the amount of the filing fee. Nota bene: Applicants are not to submit paper copies of the Character and Fitness Questionnaire, the ISP Criminal History form, or the Notice and Acknowledgment form to the Board. Detailed filing instructions Here is what you must do at this website. First, key your answers onto the Character and Fitness Questionnaire, its attendant forms, the Illinois State Police Criminal History form, and the Notice and Acknowledgment form. Second, after completing ALL of the foregoing forms, 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. Third, if you wish to charge the LSR filing fee to an authorized credit card, do so after you electronically file the foregoing forms. A $15 convenience fee will be added to each credit card payment. Fourth, collectively and electronically file the completed Character and Fitness Questionnaire, the ISP Criminal History form, and the Notice and Acknowledgment form. Fifth, key your information onto the Authorization and Release form and print the form for subsequent execution and mailing to the Board; the Authorization and Release form is NOT to be electronically filed. Here is what you must do to prepare the necessary PAPER documents for filing with the Board. First, date and sign the Authorization and Release form before a notary and see that the document is properly notarized. Second, gather all external documents such as police reports and court records that must be submitted to the Board as a result of your answers to the Character and Fitness Questionnaire. Third, for your own records, make one copy of the completed Authorization and Release form and each of the required external documents for your records. The Board will NOT at any time provide copies of these documents to you. Fourth, unless you paid the LSR filing fee on our website by authorized credit card, you must obtain and file with the Board as part of the paper portion of your application a certified check, cashier's check, or money order made payable to the Illinois Board of Admissions to the Bar in the amount of LSR filing fee due at the time of the filing of your application; personal, corporate, law firm, and travelers' checks are not acceptable. Your name must be clearly printed on each check or money order exactly as it appears on your Character and Fitness Questionnaire. If your Law Student Registration application is to be timely filed, 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; if your Law Student Registration application is filed after the timely filing deadline, such certified check, cashier's check, or money order must be in the amount of $450. All fees are nonrefundable and nontransferrable, and no exceptions will be made. Here is what you must know about proper and timely filing of your LSR application and fee. If LSR application fees are paid by credit card, an application is deemed filed upon the last to occur of the following 3 events: authorization of the credit card charge, electronic submission of the properly completed application forms, and proper tender to the US Postal Service or overnight carrier for delivery to the Board the properly executed and notarized Authorization and Release form any and all required external documents. If LSR application fees are paid by certified check, cashier's check or money order, an application is deemed filed upon the last to occur of the following 2 events: electronic submission of the properly completed application forms and proper tender to the US Postal Service or overnight carrier for delivery to the Board the appropriate fee in proper form along with the properly executed and notarized Authorization and Release form any and all required external documents. Filing requirements are uniformly applied. Therefore, any applicant who submits the paper portion of his or her application without enclosing the properly executed Authorization and Release form, all required external documents, AND (unless paid in advance by authorized credit card on our website) the fee in proper form and amount will be deemed to have missed the timely filing deadline and will be assessed the entire $450 character and fitness filing fee. Improperly addressed envelopes delayed in transit will be deemed filed upon receipt. Applications arriving with postage due will in all cases be refused, returned to sender, and subject to late fees and penalties applicable at time of subsequent posting. Applications are never accepted by fax. Regardless of circumstances, application materials and fees surrendered to the US postal service or other national overnight carrier for delivery to the Board will not be returned or refunded by the Board. No exceptions will be made. To guard against loss and ensure your proof of timely filing and payment, we strongly advise either paying by authorized credit card or obtaining and retaining proof of payment by certified check, cashier's check, or money order, as well as shipping your materials by overnight carrier or USPO return receipt. THE BOARD IS UNABLE TO VERIFY CREDIT CARD TRANSACTIONS OR RECEIPT OF PAPER APPLICATION MATERIALS OR FEES BY PHONE. If you pay your fee by credit card, your receipt of a confirmation number indicates that your transaction was successful; if you wish additional verification, you must obtain it from your credit card company. If you wish verification that we received your paper application materials and/or fee, you must ship your materials by overnight carrier or USPO return receipt and obtain confirmation of delivery from your carrier. In all events, the Board can rectify errors in transmission or receipt of fees and materials only if the applicant is able to provide proof of timely and proper payment and tender to national overnight carrier or USPO return receipt. Here is the complete checklist of paper documents that must be timely and properly posted to the Board AFTER the required electronic filing of the documents described above. In every instance items numbered 1 and 2 must be submitted collectively. In every instance in which an applicant's LSR application fee was not previously paid by authorized credit card, items 1, 2 and 3 must be submitted collectively. Any paper application not including ALL of these items AND any paper application received BEFORE the electronic filing of the documents described above will NOT be deemed timely filed, and the applicant will be assessed the entire $450 character and fitness filing fee. 1. Signed, dated, and notarized Authorization and Release form;
2. All external documents such as police reports and court records that are required to be submitted to the Board as a result of your answers to the Character and Fitness Questionnaire;
3. Unless your LSR application fee was previously paid by authorized credit card, a certified check, cashier's check, or money order made payable to the Illinois Board of Admissions to the Bar as follows:
A. LSR applications filed on or before the appropriate timely filing deadline must be accompanied by a nonrefundable reduced registration fee of $100;
B. LSR applications filed after the appropriate timely filing deadline must be accompanied by the entire nonrefundable registration fee of $450. Additional Essential Information Your LSR application is a preliminary application. The filing and approval of it will not constitute or trigger your registration to sit for an Illinois Bar Examination. Before you may sit for a bar examination, you must file a separate application to take the bar examination and pay an additional bar examination filing fee. Applications for the February examination are available the preceding August, and the regular filing deadline is September 1. Applications for the July examination are available the preceding January, and the regular filing deadline is February 1. Forms and instructions for making timely application to take the bar examination are available only at this website. It is your responsibility to obtain the separate application to take the bar examination and file it between the timely and the final late filing deadlines for a particular examination. At present, the timely filing deadline for the February examination is September 1 preceding the examination, and the final late filing deadline is December 31. The current timely filing deadline for the July examination is February 1 preceding the examination, and the final late filing deadline is May 31. The Board will not entertain requests to file applications after those dates. After your LSR application is filed, you have a continuing reporting obligation and must notify the Board of Admissions of any changes or additions to the information provided in your application. This includes, but is not limited to, changes in mailing and email addresses, employment changes, criminal charges, disciplinary actions, and traffic violations, including unpaid or contested parking tickets. Every applicant for admission on examination to the Illinois bar must achieve a scaled score of 80 or more points on an Multistate Professional Responsibility Examination (MPRE) administered after the applicant has successfully completed the lesser of 60 academic class hours or two-thirds of the academic requirements for the JD degree. For most applicants, this will mean that the MPRE may be written no sooner than August preceding commencement of the final year of law school. No exceptions will be permitted. The scaled score requirement is subject to change. Please check with the Board office for the current score requirement prior to applying to take the MPRE. |
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