September 29, 2020

Administrative Office of the Illinois Courts (AOIC) Director Marcia Meis announced several changes to the temporary licensure program administered by the AOIC under Supreme Court Rule 711 which will allow applications for temporary licensure by law school students and law school graduates to be submitted via email and signed digitally. The revised applications will be available beginning October 1, 2020.

Supreme Court Rule 711 allows eligible law students and recent graduates to obtain temporary law licenses while employed with a legal clinic, legal aid/assistance organization, or government law office, and supervised by a licensed attorney. Previously, 711 applicants were required to submit hard copy paper applications with original “wet” ink signatures and color photos. The AOIC began accepting applications for Rule 711temporary licensure electronically earlier this year in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Applications for Authorization to Perform Legal Services under Illinois Supreme Court Rule 711 are available here.  

“This will streamline the 711 application process for law students and recent law school graduates,” AOIC Director Meis said.

The new 711 applications for law students and law school graduates will be fillable PDFs available from the Court’s website, allowing applicants, supervising attorneys and law school deans to authenticate and digitally sign, and submit to the AOIC electronically.

Applications will no longer require the law school to apply an embossed school seal to the application; instead, the law schools will provide an email contact at the dean’s office for AOIC verification and communication purposes. The Rule 711 license template has also been updated and revised to no longer require the licensee’s photo, similar to the official law licenses issued by the Attorney Registration and Disciplinary Commission, which also do not require photos.