HR0961LRB101 23454 MST 74771 r

1
HOUSE RESOLUTION

 
2    WHEREAS, The Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) has
3resulted in declarations by the World Health Organization, the
4United States government, and the Governor of Illinois that
5COVID-19 presents a severe public health emergency; and
 
6    WHEREAS, The severe public health emergency presented by
7COVID-19 is ongoing and continues to threaten the health and
8safety of Illinoisans; and
 
9    WHEREAS, The Illinois judicial branch was required to
10reschedule, delay, and modify the manner in which the Illinois
11bar examination was held in September 2020, which continues to
12present challenges for the upcoming February 2021 bar
13examination; and
 
14    WHEREAS, This delay has left many graduates of law schools
15in Illinois at a disadvantage, because they cannot begin their
16careers or practice law without passing the bar examination;
17and
 
18    WHEREAS, This delay presents increasingly severe
19disadvantages to law school graduates who do not have the same
20financial advantages as their peers; and
 

 

 

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1    WHEREAS, Law school students and graduates are currently
2allowed to practice law in certain limited capacities under the
3Illinois Supreme Court Rule 711; and
 
4    WHEREAS, The Illinois Supreme Court temporarily amended
5Illinois Supreme Court Rule 711 to add paragraph (g) on July 2,
62020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic; and
 
7    WHEREAS, Paragraph (g) of Rule 711 allows December 2019 and
8all 2020 Juris Doctor graduates of law schools accredited by
9the Council of the Section of Legal Education and Admissions to
10the Bar of the American Bar Association (ABA accredited law
11schools) and Juris Doctor graduates of ABA accredited law
12schools from prior years who have been serving as judicial law
13clerks since their graduation who have not yet taken a bar
14examination but have completed all educational requirements to
15be eligible to take the Illinois bar examination and submitted
16an application to take the September 2020 or February 2021
17Illinois bar examinations to work as licensed under Rule 711
18without application to the Administrative Director; and
 
19    WHEREAS, Paragraph (g) allows law school graduates to
20utilize Rule 711 in expanded contexts, like law firms or other
21private legal departments or organizations to temporarily
22practice law in light of the COVID-19 pandemic; therefore, be
23it
 

 

 

HR0961- 3 -LRB101 23454 MST 74771 r

1    RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE ONE
2HUNDRED FIRST GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that
3we urge the Illinois Supreme Court to permanently amend
4Illinois Supreme Court Rule 711 to include paragraph (g) to
5expand the option for practicing law to other graduates of ABA
6accredited law schools without taking the Illinois bar
7examination and to provide for an automatic admission to the
8Illinois bar for graduates who complete 360 hours of legal
9services as allowed under paragraph (g) of Rule 711 and comply
10with all registration and fee requirements of the Illinois
11Attorney Registration and Disciplinary Commission; and be it
12further
 
13    RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be
14delivered to the Illinois Supreme Court.