The Illinois Attorney Registration and Disciplinary Commission’s 2023 Annual Report uncovers surprising trends.

That there are now 96,440 Illinois-licensed attorneys compared with 23,959 in 1973—a four-fold increase—would appear to suggest there is no shortage of lawyers in Illinois, the population of which has risen 12 percent during that time.

But the devil’s advocate is in the details, as the Illinois Attorney Registration and Disciplinary Commission’s (ARDC) recently released 2023 Annual Report shows.

For example, when counting only actively practicing (vs. merely registered) attorneys, the number drops to 74,824. Also, for the first time, the ARDC included the number of active private-practice attorneys per county in its Annual Report. This excludes government attorneys and out-of-state attorneys licensed in Illinois, a number that has been steadily outpacing the number of in-state attorneys since the ARDC began annually reporting in 1973.

As of 2023, only 37,142 in-state attorneys are engaged in private practice, according to the ARDC. Meanwhile, the ARDC also reports that the number of newly admitted Illinois attorneys has been decreasing over the past several years while the number of retiring attorneys has been rising.

The ARDC tabulated the number of Illinois-based private-practice attorneys per 1,000 residents in each county in its report. In 2023, the top 10 counties with the most attorneys per 1,000 residents were: Cook (5.17 attorneys per 1,000 residents), DuPage (2.57), Peoria (2), Madison (1.96), Lake (1.86), Sangamon (1.77), St. Clair (1.57), Jefferson (1.54), Jackson (1.51), and Winnebago (1.39).

The 10 counties with the fewest private-practice attorneys per 1,000 residents were: Moultrie (0), Cass (.15), Edwards (.16), Mercer (.19), Marshall (.26), Pope (.27), Logan (.29), Clinton (.33), Shelby (.33), and Wayne (.37). Of Illinois’ 102 counties, 78 had fewer than one attorney per 1,000 residents.

To learn more about the ISBA’s efforts to support the practice of law in rural areas, see the new Rural Practice Section and the Rural Practice Fellowship Program).

Roughly half (53) of all Illinois’ counties saw declines in registered active and inactive attorneys between 2022 and 2023. This includes Cook, Kane, and Will.

Other select highlights

• “For the first time, women lawyers in practice for less than five years outnumbered male lawyers in practice for less than five years 50.5 percent to 49.0 percent. … However, beyond the initial years of practice, the gender balance changes as women tend to leave the profession earlier in their careers compared to men.”
• “[T]here were 4,575 requests for investigation received by the ARDC concerning 3,250 lawyers in 2023. The ARDC filed 42 formal disciplinary complaints before the ARDC’s Hearing Board, while 17 disciplinary and regulatory proceedings were filed directly in the Illinois Supreme Court. The Court disbarred 21 lawyers in 2023, placed 38 lawyers on suspension (with or without a term of probation), censured five lawyers, and reprimanded two. … In 2023, the [ARDC] initiated 4,575 investigations, which is 216 more than in 2022. This represents a 5 percent increase compared to the previous year and aligns more closely with prepandemic activity seen in 2019.”
• “Of the 49,361 lawyers in private practice, the number of lawyers at law firms of ten lawyers or less continues to decrease.”
• “Beginning in 2020, there has been a small but noticeable shift in the distribution of lawyers across various firm sizes. Solo practitioners have seen a decrease from 27.4 percent in 2020 to 25.1 percent in 2023, while small firms with 2 to 10 lawyers have similarly declined from 25.6 percent to 24.2 percent for that same time period.”

The 2023 Annual Report is the first published under the leadership of the ARDC’s new administrator, Lea S. Gutierrez. The full report and official highlights are available online.

Pete Sherman is managing editor of the Illinois Bar Journal.
psherman@isba.org