The Illinois Board of Admissions to the Bar will inform the Court that you have passed the bar and have been certified. The Court will then send you an email within three days confirming that you have been certified to the Court to take your attorney oath at the bar admission ceremony.

After the Court emails your letter indicating you have been certified, you will receive a subsequent email which will contain your attorney oath (PDF). You will need to print, sign, and return the oath to the Clerk’s office by mail or third-party carrier (e.g., FedEx or UPS) prior to the ceremony. If you do not receive this email, be sure to check your spam/junk folder. Your name will not be added to the master roll of attorneys, and you will not receive your law license until the Clerk’s office is in receipt of your signed attorney oath.

The $50 law license fee must be paid prior to the bar admission ceremony. If the fee is not paid, you will not be added to the master roll of attorneys and you will not receive your law license.  CLICK HERE to pay your law license fee.

Candidates who are being sworn in must go to https://baradmissionceremony.illinoiscourts.gov/. Your Username is your National Conference of Bar Examiners (NCBE) number which can be found on your certified letter from the Court. Instructions for attending the live video conference and login credentials were emailed to all certified candidates. Any certified candidates who have not received an email containing the attorney oath or video conference instructions by 4:30 p.m. on May 3, 2023 should contact Sheila Lockett at slockett@illinoiscourts.gov.  

The bar admission ceremony is anticipated to last no more than 45 minutes.

The bar admission ceremony is a candidate’s first official court appearance; therefore, attendance is strongly encouraged. If you are unable to attend the live video conference ceremony, you will be notified after the ceremony how to have your oath administered.

Except upon prior approval of a Justice of the Supreme Court based on an extenuating circumstance (e.g., military deployment), no candidate is allowed to have their attorney oath administered in advance of the law class ceremony.

Family and friends will be able to watch the ceremony via livestream by going to https://baradmissionceremony.illinoiscourts.gov/family/ to view the ceremony. Candidates cannot log into the ceremony using this link; all candidates must log into the ceremony using https://baradmissionceremony.illinoiscourts.gov/.

For a name change, the Clerk’s Office requires a letter from the candidate with a copy of the documentation pertaining to the change of name (copy of certified marriage license, divorce decree, etc.). For the May 2023 bar admission ceremony, the Clerk’s office must receive the name change request no later than 4:30 p.m. on Friday, April 28, 2023, for the new name to appear on your law license.

Any candidate certified after Monday, May 1, 2023, cannot attend the bar admission ceremony. However, the Clerk’s office will email candidates of the licensing process after May 8, 2023, as candidates become certified.

After the bar admission ceremony, the Clerk’s Office will mail your law license to the address you provided to the Illinois Board of Admissions to the Bar. If you have updated your address, please notify the Clerk’s Office by emailing Sheila Lockett at slockett@illinoiscourts.gov.