Justice Lloyd A. Karmeier of the Illinois Supreme Court will administer the attorney’s oath to 64 new lawyers on Thursday, November 7, for the Fifth Judicial District.
The group is among 1,459 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 bar admission ceremony in the Fifth Judicial District will begin at 2 p.m. in the auditorium of the Southern Illinois University School of Law, 1150 Douglas Drive, in Carbondale.
Justice Karmeier will preside over the ceremony.
Cindy Buys, the Interim Dean of the Southern Illinois University School of Law, will make the welcoming remarks. The speakers for the ceremony will include SIU Professor Suzanne Schmitz, who is a member of the Illinois Board of Admissions to the Bar, and attorney Perry Browder, who is on the Board of Governors for the Illinois State Bar Association.
Guests of the Illinois Supreme Court will include Fifth District Appellate Court Justice Mark Boie,First Judicial Circuit Judge Amanda Gott, and Second Judicial Circuit Judge Evan Owens.St. Clair County Associate Judge Kevin Hoerner will make the motion to admit the class. Attorneys Bob Nelson and Kathryn Lindbeck will speak in support of the motion. They are each a parent to a new lawyer who will take the oath.
Justice Karmeier will rule on the motion and administer the oath. A reception hosted by the Illinois State Bar Association will follow.
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. The new attorneys sworn in at the November 7 bar admission ceremonies will bring the total number of licensed attorneys in Illinois to approximately 96,500. In addition to Carbondale, ceremonies will be held Thursday in Chicago, Elgin, Peoria,and Springfield.
The Fifth Judicial District includes the following counties: Alexander, Bond, Christian, Clay, Clinton, Crawford, Edwards, Effingham, Fayette, Franklin, Gallatin, Hamilton, Hardin, Jackson, Jasper, Jefferson, Johnson, Lawrence, Madison, Marion, Massac, Monroe, Montgomery, Perry, Pope, Pulaski, Randolph, Richland, Saline, Shelby, St. Clair, Wabash, Wayne, Washington, White, Williamson and Union.