Spotlight on pro bono

Pro bono by inactive lawyers is urged

The Illinois Supreme Court recently amended Rules 716 and 756 to allow attorneys registered with the Attorney Registration and Disciplinary Commission (ARDC) as retired, inactive or house counsel to provide pro bono legal services under certain circumstances in Illinois.

The amended rules were entered March 26 and will become effective July 1. This will give house counsel, retired and inactive attorneys who want to do pro bono work the ability to provide legal assistance to people who would otherwise be shut out of our justice system.

Currently, attorneys registered as inactive or retired cannot provide any legal services or advice, or hold themselves out to be so able or engaged.

The house counsel status is intended for those attorneys who are licensed in another state, but who are employed in Illinois as counsels for corporations. Under this status, the attorney may perform limited legal services in this state solely on behalf of the corporation with which he or she is employed.

These attorneys may provide pro bono legal services without charge or expectation of a fee to persons of limited means or to certain organizations under the auspices of a sponsoring entity.

Agencies that would like to be sponsoring entities must submit applications to the ARDC administrator, seeking to be qualified under the rules on an annual basis.

Agencies that become qualified under the rules must provide to these attorneys appropriate training and support, and malpractice insurance coverage.

In addition to any existing requirements relating to their status, attorneys with retired, inactive or house counsel status must also seek authorization from the ARDC to provide pro bono legal services on an annual basis.

Attorneys registered with the ARDC under the retired, inactive or house counsel status are not required to pay annual registration fees, but must register annually.

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Michael Bergmann is the director of the Pro Bono Initiative, a joint project of the Public Interest Law Initiative and The Chicago Bar Foundation. He serves on the ISBA Committee on Delivery of Legal Services and the ISBA Assembly, and is vice chair of the Child Law Section Council.

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