The Attorney Registration and Disciplinary Commission (ARDC), the administrative agency that regulates licensed Illinois lawyers, has filed its year 2019 Annual Report with the Supreme Court of Illinois. The report was released to the public this morning when a copy was posted on the ARDC website.

A summary of the Annual Report entitled Highlights of the 2019 Annual Report is also available. 

The 2019 Annual Report is dedicated to Illinois Supreme Court Justice Lloyd E. Karmeier, who for 15 years has served as the Court’s liaison officer to the ARDC and who has had an outstanding, extensive, and positive impact upon the organization. The report includes a retrospective of Justice Karmeier’s distinguished career.   

The ARDC annually evaluates the effectiveness of the disciplinary system. Complete and comprehensive statistics concerning the disciplinary caseload are submitted to the Illinois Supreme Court and are published in the Annual Report. Few professions account for their regulatory activity in such detail.  

In its Annual Report, the ARDC accounts to the Supreme Court for money received and spent. No tax money is used to fund the agency. All operating funds are taken from an annual registration fee paid by Illinois attorneys. By Supreme Court rule, lawyers pay an annual fee of $385. Of that amount, $95 is remitted to the Lawyers Trust Fund to fund legal services for the poor; $10 is sent to the Lawyers’ Assistance Program, an organization that helps lawyers, judges, law students, and their families with alcohol abuse, drug dependency, or mental health problems; $25 is submitted to the Supreme Court’s Commission on Professionalism; $25 funds the Client Protection Program to indemnify victims of lawyer misconduct; and the balance of the registration fee is used by the ARDC to pay for lawyer regulation. 

The 2019 Annual Report includes a tribute to former ARDC Deputy Administrator and Chief Counsel James J. Grogan, who retired in August 2019 after 40 years of service to the organization. The report also notes the progress made on several ARDC initiatives during 2019. The ARDC’s Diversity and Inclusion Initiative has worked to improve the disciplinary process and the delivery of the ARDC’s services in a manner that is fair and responsive to a changing demographic population. The ARDC’s Intermediary Connecting Services Initiative has continued efforts to address the unmet civil legal needs of Illinois residents due to inefficiencies in the legal marketplace. The ARDC’s Educational Initiative has developed new education and outreach programs to help lawyers serve their clients effectively and professionally. 

Annual Reports for every year since the ARDC’s founding in 1973 are published at the ARDC website under the tab marked: ARDC Organizational Information. The website also includes the Master Roll of Attorneys in Illinois and permits a user to search for certain basic public registration information, including the business address and public disciplinary record, of Illinois lawyers. The site attracted 1.25 million visits last year. It has a searchable database of all licensed Illinois lawyers. 

The ARDC consists of four members of the Illinois Bar and three non-lawyers appointed by the Supreme Court. The ARDC Chair is David F. Rolewick of Wheaton. The Vice Chair is Timothy L. Bertschy of Peoria. The Commissioners receive no compensation for their services. The Commissioners create ARDC policies, establish an operating budget, appoint members of the Inquiry and Hearing Boards, and manage the Client Protection Program. Subject to the approval of the Supreme Court, the Commissioners appoint the ARDC’s chief executive officer, the Administrator. The Administrator is Jerome Larkin.  

There are two ARDC offices: One Prudential Plaza in Chicago and 3161 White Oaks Drive in Springfield.