The Supreme Court of Illinois announced the filing of lawyer disciplinary orders on Thursday, November 13, 2014, during the November Term of Court. Sanctions were imposed because the lawyers engaged in professional misconduct by violating state ethics law.

The Illinois Supreme Court announced on Monday an increase in the annual registration fee for attorneys practicing in Illinois. The increased funds will be directed to the regulatory body that disciplines attorneys and the Supreme Court Commission established to increase civility among lawyers.

Under amended Supreme Court Rule 756, the annual registration fee will increase from $342 to $382. That amounts to an increase of 11 cents per day for attorneys who are in active status for more than three years. The $40 increase will be remitted to the Attorney Registration and Disciplinary Commission (ARDC), which will receive $30; and the Commission on Professionalism, which will receive $10.

The Attorney Registration and Disciplinary Commission (ARDC), the administrative agency that regulates licensed Illinois lawyers, has filed its year 2013 Annual Report with the Supreme Court of Illinois. The report was released to the public this morning when a copy was posted on the ARDC website: www.iardc.org.

A summary of the annual report entitled Highlights from the 2013 Annual Report is available below.

LAWYER POPULATION

The names of 91,083 Illinois lawyers appeared on the Master Roll of Attorneys as of October 31, 2013. That number does not include 2,164 attorneys who took their oath of office in late 2013. The overall lawyer population in Illinois saw an increase of 2% from 2012. The percentage of attorneys reporting a principal business address in Illinois, however, decreased last year and the number of practitioners reporting an address outside Illinois increased by 9.5% over 2012.

GRIEVANCES AND FORMAL DISCIPLINARY CHARGES

During 2013 the ARDC docketed 6,073 investigations, a 5% decrease from the prior year. More than half of grievances lodged against lawyers involved issues of poor attorney-client relations, typically neglect of a client matter (40% of all grievances) or failure to communicate with a client (18% of all grievances). Consistent with prior years, the top practice areas likely to attract a grievance include criminal law, domestic relations, real estate, and tort.

The Supreme Court of Illinois announced the filing of lawyer disciplinary orders on January 17, 2014, during the January Term of Court (unless noted). Sanctions were imposed because the lawyers engaged in professional misconduct by violating state ethics law.