Become an Illinois Bar Journal Author and Receive CLE Credit

The Illinois State Bar Association is inviting members to submit articles for publication in the Illinois Bar Journal (IBJ), our award-winning monthly publication that is sent to 28,000 attorneys throughout the state.

When you become an author for the IBJ, you not only establish yourself as an authoritative subject matter expert, but you can also claim CLE credit for your work.

The Illinois Supreme Court’s Minimum Continuing Legal Education Rules provide that “[a]n attorney may earn credit for writing law-related articles in responsible legal journals … that deal primarily with matters related to the practice of law, professionalism, diversity and inclusion, mental health and substance abuse, civility, or ethical obligations of attorneys.”

Authors can earn CLE credit for the actual number of hours spent researching and writing a qualifying article, but  – quoting the court’s Rule 795(d)(7)(iii) – “the maximum number of credits that may be earned during any two-year reporting period on a single publication is half the maximum CLE hours required for that reporting period.”

The CLE credit must be claimed in the two-year reporting period that the article was published, regardless of when it was written.

IBJ authors also receive a complimentary professional-quality PDF of their article to post on their website and to use for marketing purposes. 

Learn more about Illinois Bar Journal manuscript guidelines and submit your manuscript.

Email Managing Editor Pete Sherman at psherman@isba.org to learn more.