Purpose of Academy – The Academy was established in 1999 to celebrate excellence in the legal profession and to recognize lawyers throughout the state who maintain the highest of professional standards.
 
Laureates – A class of Laureates will be selected annually by the Academy Board of Regents. Laureates will be members of the Illinois State Bar Association and the profession who exemplify values, standards and ideals of the best of the legal profession. A total of 6 Laureates may be selected.
 
Who Qualifies to be a Laureate – Candidates must have practiced law primarily in Illinois for at least 25 years, must be a member of the ISBA, and have demonstrated a commitment to the highest principles of the legal profession through a pervasive record of service of the law, the profession and the public. A Laureate may be selected posthumously within three years of his/her death.
 
Who Does Not Qualify – It is recognized that the contributions of the ISBA Past Presidents to the profession and the public have been profound. However, the Academy Board of Regents considered it most appropriate to continue to honor them as members of the Advisory Board of the Illinois State Bar Association and deemed them ineligible as candidates for Laureates of the Academy.
 
Others who are ineligible for nomination include:
 
1. Sitting ISBA Board Members (and for 24 months thereafter)
2. Sitting Academy Regents (and for 24 months thereafter)
3. Sitting Judges and Justices
 
Nominations – Laureate nominations are by written submission. The Nomination should contain:
 
1. Full Name and Address of Nominee
2. Name of Firm
3. Location of Practice
4. Complete Biographical Information
5. Statement of Reasons for Nomination
6. Name and Address of Nominator
7. A Limited Number of References – No more than ten personal and ten Professional
 
Send complete Laureate nomination materials, so they arrive no later than December 1, to: Stephen Anderson, Academy of Illinois Lawyers, Illinois State Bar Association, 20 S. Clark, St., Ste. 900, Chicago, IL 60603