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M.R. 3140
IN THE
SUPREME COURT
OF
THE STATE OF ILLINOIS
Order entered May 23, 2005.
(Deleted material is struck through and new material is underscored.)
Effective immediately, Supreme Court Rules 22(g), 756(e), and 767 are amended, new Rule 1.17 of the
Illinois Rules of Professional Conduct is adopted, and Rules 5.4, 5.6, and 7.2 of the Illinois Rules of Professional Conduct
are amended, as follows:
Amended Rule 22
Rule 22. Appellate Court Organization
* * *
(g) Illinois Workers’ Compensation Commission Appeals. A five-judge panel of the Appellate Court will sit as the Illinois Workers’ Compensation Commission division
of each district of the Appellate Court. The Illinois Workers’ Compensation Commission division will hear
and decide all appeals involving proceedings to review orders of the Illinois Workers’ Compensation
Commission. The division will sit, periodically, as its judicial business requires, at any place in the State it chooses.
Five judges must participate in the decisions of the Illinois Workers’ Compensation Commission division,
and the concurrence of three shall be necessary to a decision. If a judge designated to serve on this panel cannot
participate, the alternate designated by the Supreme Court shall participate. Motions of course may be decided by one judge.
Amended effective July 1, 1971, and December 9, 1974; amended July 30, 1979, effective October 15, 1979;
amended February 1, 1984, effective February 1, 1984, with Justice Moran dissenting (see Yellow Cab Co. v. Jones
(1985), 108 Ill. 2d 330, 342); amended April 10, 1987, effective August 1, 1987; amended November 20, 1991, effective
immediately; amended October 15, 2004, effective January 1, 2005; amended May 23, 2005, effective immediately.
Amended Rule 756(e)
Rule 756. Registration and Fees
(a) Annual Registration Required. Except as hereinafter
provided, every attorney admitted to practice law in this State shall register and pay an annual registration fee to the
Commission on or before the first day of January. Until further order of the court, the following schedule shall apply:
(1) No registration fee is required of an attorney admitted to the bar less than one year
before the first day of January for which the registration fee is due; an attorney admitted to the bar for more than one
year but less than three years before the first day of January for which the registration fee is due shall pay an annual
registration fee of $90; an attorney admitted to the bar for more than three years before the first day of January for which
the registration fee is due shall pay an annual registration fee of $229, out of which $7 shall be remitted to the Lawyers’
Assistance Program Fund and out of which $42 shall be remitted to the Lawyers Trust Fund. For purposes of this rule, the
time shall be computed from the date of an attorney's initial admission to practice in any jurisdiction in the United
States.
(2) An attorney in the Armed Forces of the United States shall be exempt from paying a
registration fee until the first day of January following discharge.
(3) An attorney who has reached the age of 75 years shall be excused from the further
payment of registration fees.
(4) No registration fee is required of any attorney during the period he or she may be
serving in the office of justice, judge, associate judge or magistrate of a court of the United States of America or the
State of Illinois or the office of judicial law clerk, administrative assistant, secretary or assistant secretary to such a
justice, judge, associate judge or magistrate, or during any period in which he or she is receiving a retirement annuity
pursuant to Title 28, Chapter 17 of the United States Code or Chapter 40, Act 5, Article 18 of the Illinois Compiled
Statutes.
(5) An attorney may advise the Administrator in writing that he or she desires to assume
inactive status and, thereafter, register as an inactive status attorney. The annual registration fee for an inactive status
attorney shall be $90. Upon such registration, the attorney shall be placed upon inactive status and shall no longer be
eligible to practice law or hold himself or herself out as being authorized to practice law in this State. An attorney who
is on the master roll as an inactive status attorney may advise the Administrator in writing that he or she desires to
resume the practice of law, and thereafter register as active upon payment of the registration fee required under this rule.
If the attorney returns from inactive status after having paid the inactive status fee for the year, the attorney shall pay
the difference between the inactive status registration fee and the registration fee required under paragraphs (a)(1)
through (a)(4) of this rule. Inactive status under this rule does not include inactive disability status as described in
Rules 757 and 758. Any lawyer on inactive disability status is not required to pay an annual fee.
(6) An attorney may advise the Administrator in writing that he or she desires to assume
retirement status and, thereafter, register as a retired attorney. Upon such registration, the attorney shall be placed upon
retirement status and shall no longer be eligible to practice law or hold himself or herself out as being authorized to
practice law in this state. The retired attorney is relieved thereafter from the annual obligation to register and pay the
registration fee. A retired attorney may advise the Administrator in writing that he or she desires to register as an active
or inactive status lawyer and, thereafter so register upon payment of the fee required for the current year for that
registration status, plus the annual registration fee that the attorney would have been required to pay if registered as
active for each of the years during which the attorney was on retirement status.
(7) An attorney who is on voluntary inactive status pursuant to former Rule 770 who wishes
to register for any year after 1999 shall file a petition for restoration under Rule 759. If the petition is granted, the
attorney shall advise the Administrator in writing whether he or she wishes to register as active, inactive or retired, and
shall pay the fee required for that status for the year in which the restoration order is entered. Any such attorney who
petitions for restoration after December 31, 2000, shall pay a sum equal to the annual registration fees that the attorney
would have been required to pay for each full year after 1999 during which the attorney remained on Rule 770 inactive status
without payment of a fee.
(8) Upon written application and for good cause shown, the Administrator may excuse the
payment of any registration fee in any case in which payment thereof will cause undue hardship to the attorney.
* * *
(e) Disclosure of Malpractice Insurance. As part of
registering under this rule, each lawyer shall disclose whether the lawyer has malpractice insurance on the date of the
registration, and if so, shall disclose the dates of coverage for the policy. The Administrator may conduct random audits to
assure the accuracy of information reported. Each lawyer shall maintain, for a period of seven years from the date the
coverage is reported, documentation showing the name of the insurer, the policy number, the amount of coverage and the term
of the policy, and shall produce such documentation upon the Administrator’s request. The
requirements of this subsection shall not apply to attorneys serving in the office of justice, judge, associate judge or
magistrate as defined in subparagraph (a)(4) of this rule on the date of registration.
* * *
Adopted January 25, 1973, effective February 1, 1973; amended effective May 17, 1973, April 1, 1974, and
February 17, 1977; amended August 9, 1983, effective October 1, 1983; amended April 27, 1984, and June 1, 1984, effective
July 1, 1984; amended July 1, 1985, effective August 1, 1985; amended effective November 1, 1986; amended December 1, 1988,
effective December 1, 1988; amended November 20, 1991, effective immediately; amended June 29, 1999, effective November 1,
1999; amended July 6, 2000, effective November 1, 2000; amended July 26, 2001, effective immediately; amended October 4,
2002, effective immediately; amended June 15, 2004, effective October 1, 2004; amended May 23, 2005, effective
immediately.
Amended Rule 767(c)
Rule 767. Reinstatement
* * *
(c) Costs. The petition shall be accompanied by a receipt
showing payment to the Commission of a $500 deposit to be applied against the costs, as defined in Rule 773, necessary to
the investigation, hearing and review of the petition. If the costs exceed the amount of the deposit, the petitioner shall
pay the excess at the conclusion of the matter pursuant to the procedures of Rule 773. If the deposit exceeds the
costs, the excess shall be refunded to the petitioner.
* * *
Adopted March 30, 1973, effective April 1, 1973; amended September 8, 1975, effective October 1, 1975;
amended effective February 17, 1977; amended May 26, 1978, effective July 1, 1978; amended August 9, 1983, effective October
1, 1983; amended June 1, 1984, effective July 1, 1984; amended May 23, 2005, effective immediately.
Commentary
(May 23, 2005)
Paragraph (c) is amended to provide that the procedures of Rule 773 to recover costs
are applicable in all respects to a reinstatement proceeding.
Article VIII. Illinois Rules of Professional Conduct
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New Rule 1.17
Rule 1.17 Sale or Transfer of a Law Practice
A lawyer, the estate of a deceased lawyer, or the guardian or
authorized representative of a disabled lawyer may transfer or sell, and a lawyer or a law firm may accept or purchase, a
law practice, including goodwill, if the following conditions are satisfied.
(a) The lawyer whose practice is
transferred or sold ceases to engage in the private practice of law in all or part of Illinois due to:
(1) death or disability;
(2) retirement;
(3) declaration of inactive status with the ARDC;
(4) becoming a member of the judiciary;
(5) full-time government employment;
(6) moving to an in-house counsel or other position of employment not
involving the private practice of law; or
(7) a decision to no longer be actively engaged in the private practice
of law on a fee representation basis in the geographic area in which the practice has been conducted.
(b) The entire practice is
transferred or sold to one or more lawyers or law firms.
(c) No less than 90 days prior
to the expected date of closing or transfer, written notice shall be given to each of the seller’s current clients via
certified mail regarding:
(1) the proposed sale;
(2) the client’s right to retain other counsel or to take possession of
the file;
(3) the fact that the client’s consent to the transfer of the client’s
files will be presumed if the client does not take any action or does not otherwise object within 90 days of the
receipt of the notice; and
(4) the expected date of final closing or transfer.
If a client cannot be given notice, the representation of that client may be
transferred to the purchaser only upon entry of an order so authorizing by a court having jurisdiction. The seller may
disclose to the court in camera information relating to the representation only to the extent necessary to obtain
an order authorizing the transfer of a file.
(d) The fees charged clients
shall not be increased by reason of the sale.
(e) Admission to or retirement
from a law partnership or professional association, retirement plans and similar arrangements, and a sale of tangible
assets of a law practice, do not constitute a sale or purchase governed by this rule.
(f) Lawyers who sell or
transfer their law practice are subject to the ethical standards applicable to involving another lawyer in the
representation of a client. These include, for example, Rule 1.1 (Competence); Rule 1.5 (Fees); Rule 1.6
(Confidentiality of Information); Rule 1.7 (Conflict of Interest: General Rule); Rule 1.9 (Conflict of Interest: Former
Client).
(g) This rule does not apply to
the transfers of legal representation between lawyers when such transfers are unrelated to the sale of the practice.
Adopted May 23, 2005, effective immediately.
Amended Rule 5.4(a)
Rule 5.4. Professional Independence of a Lawyer
(a) A lawyer or law firm shall not share legal fees with a
nonlawyer, except that:
(1) an agreement by a lawyer with the lawyer’s firm, partner, or
associate may provide for the payment of money, over a reasonable period of time after the lawyer’s death, to the
lawyer’s estate or to one or more specified persons;
(2) a lawyer who undertakes to complete unfinished legal business
of a deceased lawyer may pay to the estate of the deceased lawyer that proportion of the total compensation which fairly
represents the services rendered by the deceased lawyer or may make payments in accordance with Rule 1.17; and
(3) a lawyer or law firm may include nonlawyer employees in a
compensation or retirement plan, even though the plan is based in whole or in part on a profit-sharing arrangement.
* * *
Adopted February 8, 1990, effective August 1, 1990; amended May 23, 2005, effective
immediately.
Amended Rule 5.6
Rule 5.6. Restrictions on Right to Practice
A lawyer shall not participate in offering or making:
(a) a partnership or employment agreement
that restricts the rights of a lawyer to practice after termination of the relationship, except an agreement concerning
either benefits upon retirement or an agreement pursuant to the provisions of Rule 1.17; or
(b) an agreement in which a restriction on
the lawyer’s right to practice is part of the settlement of a controversy between private parties.
Adopted February 8, 1990, effective August 1, 1990; amended May 23, 2005, effective
immediately.
Amended Rule 7.2
Rule 7.2. Advertising
(a) Subject to the requirements of
Rule 7.1, a lawyer may advertise services through public media, such as telephone directories, legal directories, newspapers
or other periodicals, billboards, radio or television, or through written communication not involving solicitation as
defined in Rule 7.3, provided:
(1) a copy or recording of the advertisement or written
communication is kept for three years after its last dissemination along with a record of when and where it was used;
and
(2) any communication made pursuant to Rules 7.1 and 7.2
includes the name of at least one lawyer responsible for its content.
(b) A lawyer shall not give anything
of value to a person for recommending or having recommended the lawyer’s services, except that a lawyer may pay the
reasonable cost of advertising or written communication permitted by Rules 7.1 and 7.2 (including fees of personnel
preparing such advertising or communication), and may pay the usual charges of a not-for-profit
lawyer referral service or other legal service organization, or may pay for a law practice in accordance with Rule 1.17.
Adopted February 8, 1990, effective August 1, 1990; amended May 23, 2005, effective
immediately.
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