Supreme Court Justices To Administer Oath to New Attorneys in Chicago
Illinois Supreme Court Chief Justice P. Scott Neville, Jr., Justice Mary Jane Theis, and Justice Joy V. Cunningham will administer the attorney’s oath to 1,341 new lawyers over two bar admission ceremony sessions on Wednesday, November 5, in the First Judicial District.
The group is among 1,637 individuals who will be sworn in and admitted to the practice of law in Illinois during bar admission ceremonies held in the state’s five Supreme Court judicial districts.
The first bar admission ceremony in the First Judicial District will begin at 10 a.m. at the University of Illinois Chicago’s Dorin Forum located at 725 W. Roosevelt Road.
Chief Justice Neville and Justice Theis will preside over the first ceremony.
The speakers for the morning ceremony will be Cook County Circuit Judge Nichole C. Patton of the Chicago Bar Association and David Schrodt of the Chicago Council of Lawyers.
Bar association representatives for the first ceremony will include Cook County Circuit Judge Thomas E. Nowinski of the Advocates Society, Mona Naser of the Arab American Bar Association, the Hon. Travis Richardson (Ret.) of the Black Men Lawyers’ Association, Catherine Locallo of the Justinian Society of Lawyers, Neha Khandhadia of the South Asian Bar Association of Chicago, and Katherine Twardak of the Women’s Bar Association of Illinois. The representative from the Illinois Board of Admissions to the Bar will be the Hon. Rita Novak (Ret.)
Cook County Circuit Judge Joanne F. Rosado, President of the Puerto Rican Bar Association of Illinois, will make the motion to admit the class. Perry J. Browder, President Elect of the Illinois State Bar Association, will second the motion.
The second bar admission ceremony in the First Judicial District will begin at 1:30 p.m. at the University of Illinois Chicago’s Dorin Forum located at 725 W. Roosevelt Road.
Chief Justice Neville and Justice Cunningham will preside over the second ceremony.
The speakers will be Antonio C. Lee, President of the Cook County Bar Association, and Natanya Pope-Sohel, Vice President of the Black Women Lawyers’ Association.
Bar association representatives for the second ceremony will include Belle Katubig of the Asian American Bar Association of Greater Chicago, Kevin P. Kelley of the Catholic Lawyers Guild of Chicago, Cook County Circuit Judge Lori Rosen of the Decalogue Society of Lawyers, Pamela Visvardis Savvides of the Hellenic Bar Association of Illinois, Cindy Medina-Cervantes of the Hispanic Lawyers Association of Illinois, Adam M. Zebelian of LAGBAC-Chicago’s LGBTQ+ Bar Association, and Margot Klein of the Seventh Circuit Bar Association.
Cara LeFevour Smith, Director of the Office of Statewide Pretrial Services (OSPS), will make the motion to admit the class for the second ceremony. Nicola (Nicky) Boothe, Dean of the University of Illinois Chicago School of Law, will second the motion.
All of the candidates have passed the Illinois State Bar Examination and a required ethics examination and were certified by the Supreme Court Committee on Character and Fitness.
In addition to Chicago, ceremonies will be held Wednesday in Elgin, Joliet, Springfield, Carbondale, and Champaign.
(FOR MORE INFORMATION, CONTACT: James Brunner, Public Information Officer of the Illinois Supreme Court at 217.208.3354 or jbrunner@illinoiscourts.gov)