The Attorney Registration & Disciplinary Commission of the Supreme Court of Illinois (ARDC), the agency that investigates allegations of lawyer wrongdoing in Illinois, has launched a new website. The new site retains the same internet address as the former site, www.iardc.org.

The new website is designed to provide a user-friendly experience for all users. “The ARDC website is an important and popular resource for the legal community and the public,” said Justice Rita B. Garman, Illinois Supreme Court liaison to the ARDC. “This new and improved website will help protect and promote the integrity of the legal profession.”

The new site has enhanced the Lawyer Search function, which was lauded in a 2016 Georgetown Journal of Legal Ethics article for the accessibility of its lawyer discipline information. Visitors can use the Lawyer Search function not only to see whether a lawyer has a record of professional discipline, but also to obtain a lawyer’s contact information, to learn whether a lawyer is currently authorized to practice law, and to discover whether a lawyer reports maintaining malpractice insurance. In 2020, the Lawyer Search function of the ARDC’s former website was accessed 1,267,066 times – a testament to the utility of the information there. Users may also gain full information about filing a complaint against a lawyer and download a complaint form that can be emailed, mailed, or faxed to the ARDC.

Lawyers can use the site to register and pay their annual licensing fee, submit an address change, obtain a letter of good standing, and change their registration status, among other things. The new site’s Education and Practice Resources portal contains free, on-demand Minimum Continuing Legal Education programs for Illinois lawyers on a variety of subjects, along with access to Illinois’ groundbreaking Proactive Management Based Regulation Self-Assessment Program, which helps lawyers identify potential ethical trouble spots in their law practice before they might become disciplinary or malpractice problems. The site also includes an improved function for searching Illinois attorney discipline cases, including reports of the ARDC’s Hearing and Review Boards, and orders and opinions from the Illinois Supreme Court.

In addition, the site provides users with access to various ARDC publications, including its Trust Account Handbook and its Annual Reports. The Annual Report, released every spring, is the vehicle by which the ARDC reports on its operations to the Illinois Supreme Court, and it contains data on, and analyses of, the ARDC’s various undertakings and initiatives. Finally, the new site includes a page of links to other organizations relating to the practice of law in Illinois.