January 2026 Delivery of Legal Services Pro Bono Spotlight

By Marisa Wiesman, Standing Committee on the Delivery of Legal Services

Retired or Inactive? You Can Do Pro Bono!

Is your ARDC registration status retired or inactive? Did you know that you can still provide pro bono legal services?

Under Illinois Supreme Court Rule 756(k), Illinois attorneys with a registration status of retired or inactive can provide pro bono legal services through a not-for-profit legal aid program, governmental entity, law school clinical program, or bar association pro bono program registered with the ARDC as a “sponsoring entity.” These sponsoring entities agree to provide training, support, and malpractice insurance to pro bono attorneys. Rule 756(k) also allows attorneys registered in another state to provide pro bono services in Illinois through a sponsoring entity.

The process is simple. The pro bono attorney and the sponsoring entity must jointly complete and submit an authorization form to the ARDC. This authorization must be renewed annually. Authorization forms are available on the ARDC’s website here.

Similarly, attorneys admitted as house counsel under Supreme Court Rule 716 may also provide pro bono services, with no additional registration or authorization required.

The need for pro bono legal assistance is great. According to the Legal Services Corporation’s 2022 Justice Gap Study, low-income households in the United States do not get any or enough legal help for 92% of the civil legal problems that have a substantial impact on them – including family law, landlord/tenant, and consumer debt matters. Legal Services Corporation (LSC) funded organizations must turn away 1 out of every 2 requests for help due to limited resources. Even when these organizations do provide assistance, they have the resources to fully resolve only 1 out of every 2 problems. (In Illinois, the LSC-funded legal aid organizations are Legal Aid Chicago, Prairie State Legal Services, and Land of Lincoln Legal Aid.)

Ready to put your professional skill to good use? A list of pro bono sponsoring entities is available here. You can find more information about current pro bono opportunities by contacting a sponsoring entity directly or through this Pro Bono Opportunity Portal.