HR0961 101ST GENERAL ASSEMBLY

HR0961 LRB101 23454 MST 74771 r

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

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

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.