Justice David K. Overstreet to Administer Oath to New Attorneys in Carbondale and Champaign

Justice David K. Overstreet of the Illinois Supreme Court will administer the attorney’s oath to 60 new lawyers across two ceremonies on Wednesday, November 4, in the Fifth Judicial District.

The group is among 1,572 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 Fifth Judicial District will begin at 9 a.m. at the Southern Illinois University (SIU) School of Law Auditorium in Carbondale.

Justice Overstreet will preside over the ceremony. The Dean of SIU’s School of Law, Hannah Brenner Johnson, will provide the welcome to the ceremony. Thomas Speedie of the Board of Governors of the Illinois State Bar Association, and J. Nelson Wood, Chair of the Attorney Registration & Disciplinary Commission, will serve as speakers.

Guests of the Illinois Supreme Court will include Fifth District Appellate Court Justice Mark H. Clarke and First Judicial Circuit Judge Ella Travelstead.

Third Judicial Circuit Judge Kyle Napp will make the motion to admit the class. The motion will be seconded by Third Judicial Circuit Judge Ronald Foster.

Justice Overstreet will rule on the motion, administer the attorney’s oath, and make remarks. A reception hosted by the Illinois State Bar Association will follow the ceremony.

The second bar admission ceremony in the Fifth Judicial District will begin at 3 p.m. at the University of Illinois School of Law Auditorium in Champaign. Justice Overstreet will preside over the ceremony.

The Dean of the University of Illinois’ School of Law, Jamelle Sharpe, will provide the welcome to the ceremony. Nargis Khokhar, a member of the Board of Governors of the Illinois State Bar Association, Alexandra Rice, Director of the Illinois Board of Admissions to the Bar, and J. Nelson Wood, Chair of the Attorney Registration & Disciplinary Commission, will serve as speakers.

Guests of the Illinois Supreme Court will include Sixth Judicial Circuit Chief Judge Randall B. Rosenbaum, Fifth Judicial Circuit Judge Tracy W. Resch, Fourth Judicial Circuit Associate Judge Allan F. Lolie Jr., and Fifth Judicial Circuit Associate Judge Lindsay J. Starwalt.

Attorney James Spiros will make the motion to admit the class. The motion will be seconded by attorney James Jorgensen.

Justice Overstreet will rule on the motion, administer the attorney’s oath, and make remarks. A reception hosted by the Illinois State Bar Association will follow the ceremony.

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 Carbondale and Champaign, ceremonies will be held on Wednesday in Chicago, Elgin, Joliet, and Springfield.

The Fifth Judicial District is composed of 48 counties: Alexander, Bond, Champaign, Christian, Clark, Clay, Clinton, Coles, Crawford, Cumberland, DeWitt, Douglas, Edgar, Edwards, Effingham, Fayette, Franklin, Gallatin, Hamilton, Hardin, Jackson, Jasper, Jefferson, Johnson, Lawrence, Macon, Madison, Marion, Massac, Monroe, Montgomery, Moultrie, Perry, Piatt, Pope, Pulaski, Randolph, Richland, Saline, Shelby, St. Clair, Union, Vermilion, Wabash, Washington, Wayne, White, and Williamson.

(FOR MORE INFORMATION, CONTACT: James Brunner, Public Information Officer of the Illinois Supreme Court at 217.208.3354 or jbrunner@illinoiscourts.gov.)