Chief Justice Mary Jane Theis and the Illinois Supreme Court announced this week the approval in concept of a Community Justice Worker Program that will allow for certified individuals who are not lawyers to provide limited legal assistance in designated high-need areas of law under the supervision of an Illinois-licensed attorney.
While there are more than 70 civil legal aid organizations in Illinois, the Court notes that the need for free civil legal aid is greater than the services available.
The proposal will position trained and certified community justice workers in legal aid and other nonprofit organizations where they will provide limited legal assistance in areas of high unmet need.
The Court expects that those most likely to benefit are people who are not currently accessing legal services and can’t afford an attorney.
Addressing unmet legal needs for daily issues
Tim Eaton and Tim Bertschy, who served as the original Chair and Vice Chair of the Supreme Court Executive Committee on the Practice of Law, which proposed the program, noted in the press release that many Illinoisians can’t find or afford legal services to handle issues impacting daily life, like divorce, custody, and housing.
“This has been a problem for decades, in Illinois and elsewhere, and simply asking lawyers to work more pro bono hours is not the answer,” they said.
A model that provides for certified community justice workers to be closely supervised by a licensed lawyer and employed by nonprofits only will help address the unmet legal need while “protecting the tenets of our profession,” Eaton and Bertschy noted.
Leveraging known, trusted community members
The Court said that the program intends to expand access to legal services in Illinois by leveraging existing resources and community members.
This is important because people often approach individuals they know and trust first when looking for help. It is also an opportunity to build public trust and confidence in the judicial system, the Court said, by equipping these trusted people to provide accurate and effective assistance.
“There continues to be an increase in the number of people coming to court for civil cases who are self-represented,” Chief Justice Mary Jane Theis said in the press release. “This is part of a nationwide trend and states are looking to programs like this to increase access to the justice system for individuals who cannot afford an attorney.”
The program aims to increase access in underserved areas and legal deserts, which are vast geographical areas with minimal or no access to legal services.
As in other states, there is an alarming shortage of lawyers in rural Illinois. According to November 2024 data from the Illinois Attorney Registration and Disciplinary Commission (ARDC), of the 8,327 Illinois resident attorneys admitted to practice in the last four years, a staggering 7,625 (91.6%) are practicing in Cook County or its collar counties (Lake, McHenry, Kane, DuPage, Kendall, Grundy, Will, Kankakee). This leaves only 702 of those newly admitted attorneys to cover the remaining 93 counties in Illinois.
Background on the program
This July, the Conference of Chief Justices (CCJ) and the Conference of State Court Administrators (COSCA) adopted a resolution that supports exploring access to justice through authorized justice practitioner programs.
The resolution notes that approximately half of the states are already exploring, implementing, or administering at least one regulatory reform initiative authorizing individuals without law licenses to provide legal assistance in limited or community settings.
And, in August, the American Bar Association adopted a resolution encouraging states to study and adopt community justice worker programs.
Illinois’ Community Justice Worker Program was proposed by the Executive Committee on the Practice of Law, which drew on the experiences of other states that have implemented similar programs.
The Executive Committee is charged with making recommendations on issues impacting the practice of law and unmet legal needs. Commission on Professionalism Chair John Kim serves as a member of the Committee.
The Executive Committee will work with the Supreme Court Commission on Access to Justice, the ARDC, and other stakeholders to develop the regulatory and other details of the program.
The Executive Committee will submit a final recommendation to the Court prior to October 1, 2026.
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