By Stephen Anderson

The process of formalizing the registration and discipline of Illinois lawyers was established 35 years ago by the Illinois Supreme Court.

Lyle W. Allen was president of the Illinois State Bar Association, and Philip H. Corboy headed the Chicago Bar Association. The two organizations had petitioned the court in 1971 for an independent entity to handle complaints against lawyers.

On Feb. 1, 1973, the court adopted Rules 751 to 756. Four days later, Justin A. Stanley was appointed chair of an “Attorney Registration Commission” that included Lester Asher, James H. Bandy, George J. Cotsirilos and John F. Grady.

In answer to grumbles from members of the bar, Corboy said: “This procedure to investigate and prosecute the few lawyers who are errant or erring will help to increase public confidence in the legal profession.”

On March 1, 1973, Carl H. Rolewick was named founding administrator, and the new rules became effective April 1. Registration forms were sent to 26,507 lawyers who had registered previously with the Illinois State Bar Association.

The 2007 annual report of the Attorney Registration and Disciplinary Commission, submitted to the Supreme Court on April 28, traces the 35-year history and provides additional text and charts that require 10 more pages than previous reports.

To view the full report, access http://www.iardc.org.

Slow growth continues

The number of registered Illinois attorneys rose 1,234 (1.5%) last year to 82,380 on Oct. 31. In the following month, 2,363 more were admitted in statewide ceremonies.

The proportion of female lawyers edged up to 34 percent, topping one-third of the total and breaking through the two-to-one ratio.

The total registration, however, includes 9,019 lawyers on inactive status, up 387 from the previous year. The number of judges and judicial clerks rose 198 to 2,090 but there was a drop of in-house counsel from 323 to 264.

More Illinois lawyers are serving on active military duty: 232 compared with 216 a year earlier.

More in local practice

Reversing a 2006 aberration, when the number of lawyers with Illinois practices dropped from 61,130 to 60,370, the total rose 1.8 percent last year to 61,466.

Increases of 2.1 percent in Cook County (to 43,026), and 2.3 percent in the 2nd District (to 9,843), were reported. The 5th District gained three lawyers, but the 3rd District dropped by two and the 4th District had 11 fewer.

All five circuits of the 2nd District gained (the new 22nd Circuit was not separated from the 19th). Elsewhere, only the 1st, 7th, 12th and 20th Circuits registered increases.

By counties, 41 gained in lawyer population, 42 decreased, and 19 stayed the same.

Discipline declines

Only 120 Illinois lawyers received disciplinary sanctions last year, the lowest since 2000 and down 24 from the previous year.

The total included 24 disbarments (down 8), 60 suspensions (down 3), 16 probations (down 8), 11 censures (down 8), and 9 reprimands (up 3). An additional 11 interim suspensions were recorded.

The 5,988 investigations docketed during the past year were slightly fewer than the five-year average of 6,053. The administrator closed 5,625 files, either prima facie or after investigation.

Only 279 complaints were voted by the Inquiry Board. The Hearing Board concluded 121 matters, and the Review Board concluded 29 during the year.

Of interest is a new 35-year chart of 3,074 disciplinary orders, itemized year by year. Since 1973, 1,062 lawyers have been disbarred and 1,333 suspended. Censures, reprimands and probations total 669.

Another new chart on reinstatement orders reveals that in 34 years only 72 petitions have been allowed, while 55 were denied and 67 withdrawn. Since 2000, only four disciplined lawyers have been reinstated.

The impact of Himmel

The 2007 ARDC report relates the 20-year impact on the disciplinary system of In re Himmel, the Sept. 22, 1988, opinion that an attorney’s failure to report misconduct of another attorney warranted a suspension.

A new chart shows that since then, 8.1 percent of all grievances against Illinois attorneys have been filed by other attorneys (10,310 out of 127,070).

During a five-year span from 2002 to 2006, an average of about 44 (14%) of attorney-reported grievances resulted in formal complaints being voted.

In 2007, however, 82 formal complaints resulted in this category (28.9% of 284 complaints voted by the Inquiry Board).