Chief Justice Lloyd A. Karmeier of the Illinois Supreme Court will administer the attorney’s oath to 66 new lawyers on Thursday, November 9, in the Fifth Judicial District.
The group is among 1,335 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. at the Auditorium of the Southern Illinois University School of Law in Carbondale.
Chief Justice Karmeier will preside over the ceremony.
The speakers for the bar admission ceremony will include Professor Suzanne Schmitz, a member of the Illinois Board of Admissions to the Bar and Dennis Orsey, 3rd Vice President of the Illinois State Bar Association.
Guests of the Illinois Supreme Court will include: Justice David K. Overstreet of the Fifth District Appellate Court; Circuit Judge John W. Sanders of the First Judicial Circuit; Circuit Judge Carey C. Gill of the First Judicial Circuit; and Associate Judge Michael A. Fiello of the First Judicial Circuit.
Attorney Kevin Hoerner will make the motion to admit the class and attorneys Gene Schmittgens and Megan Gibreth will speak in support of the motion. Hoerner and Schmittgens have sons who will be taking the attorney’s oath during the ceremony. Gibreth has a brother who will be taking the attorney’s oath during the ceremony.
Chief 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 9 bar admission ceremonies will bring the total number of licensed attorneys in Illinois to approximately 98,000.
In addition to Carbondale, ceremonies will be held Thursday in Chicago, Elgin, Kankakee 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.
