The Illinois Supreme Court on Wednesday granted the Attorney Registration and Disciplinary Commission (ARDC) the authority to investigate and prosecute the unauthorized practice of law.

"We will handle any UPL matter in much the same way we handle a disciplinary matter," ARDC Administrator Jerome Larkin said. "For those who are never licensed anywhere and for disbarred lawyers, we would bring contempt proceedings in the circuit court. For lawyers from out-of-state and for suspended Illinois lawyers, we would bring proceedings before our hearing board."

The Illinois State Bar Association's (ISBA) Board of Governors and the ISBA Task Force on the Unauthorized Practice of Law were instrumental in this development. The ISBA Board in May of 2008 approved a proposal drafted by the ISBA UPL Task Force that sought to provide the ARDC with this authority. This was sent to the ARDC in 2009, which submitted it to the court in 2010.

"It was really a good joint effort by all of the organized bar and our office to give to the courts what we feel is a very practical approach to this problem," said James J. Grogan, ARDC Deputy Administrator and Chief Counsel.

The full text of today's rule amendments are available here: UPL_120711 Rule Amendments.pdf