Over 1,300 New Illinois Lawyers to Be Admitted on Thursday

New attorneys will be admitted to practice in Illinois on Thursday, Nov. 9, with Illinois Supreme Court and Illinois Appellate Court justices presiding and administering the attorney's oath to 1,335 new attorneys at five separate locations across the state. 

All of the candidates set to be sworn in have passed the Illinois State Bar Examination and a required ethics examination and were certified by the Supreme Court Committee on Character and Fitness. They will bring the total number of licensed attorneys in Illinois to approximately 98,000.

The largest group, 1,022, will be admitted in the First Judicial District during two ceremonies at the Arie Crown Theater, located at 2301 S. Lake Shore Drive, in Chicago. The ceremonies will be at 9:45 a.m. and 12:45 p.m. Illinois Supreme Court Justice Mary Jane Theis will preside over both ceremonies.

Guests of the morning ceremony will include Dartesia Pitts, president of the Cook County Bar Association; Randy K. Johnson of the Illinois Board of Admissions to the Bar; and Hon. Cecilia Horan, president of the Lesbian and Gay Bar Association. Judge Stuart E. Palmer will move for admission of the class. Judge Robert W. Bertucci will second the motion.

Guests of the second First District ceremony will include Judge Russell Hartigan, president of the Illinois State Bar Association; Arelene Coleman of the Illinois Board of Admissions to the Bar; and Elizabeth B. Herrington, president of the Seventh Circuit Bar Association. Judge LeRoy K. Martin, Jr. will move for admission of the class. Judge James M. Bailey, Judge Luciano Panici, Richard F. Pellegrino, and Steven M. Elrod will second the motion. Kenneth G. Jablonski, clerk of the Illinois Attorney Registration and Disciplinary Commission, will serve as acting marshal at both of the First District ceremonies.

In addition to Chicago, ceremonies will be held Thursday in Carbondale, Elgin, Kankakee, and Springfield.

Illinois Supreme Court Chief Justice Lloyd A. Karmeier will preside over the Fifth Judicial District ceremony at 2 p.m. in the Auditorium of Southern Illinois University's School of Law in Carbondale.

Illinois Supreme Court Justice Robert R. Thomas will preside over the Second Judicial District ceremony at 10 a.m. at Hemmens Cultural Center, 45 Symphony Way, in Elgin.

Illinois Supreme Court Justice Thomas L. Kilbride will preside over the Third Judicial District ceremony, which will be at 11 a.m. at Kankakee Community College, 100 College Drive in Kankakee.

Illinois Supreme Court Justice Rita B. Garman will preside over the Fourth Judicial District ceremony, which will begin at 10 a.m. in the Auditorium of the Michael J. Howlett Building, Second and Jackson Street, in Springfield.