Illinois Adopts a Modified Version of Rule 1.17

Effective May 23, 2005, the Illinois Supreme Court added Rule 1.17 to the Illinois Rules of Professional Conduct to permit the transfer of a legal practice joining the other 38 jurisdictions with similar provisions.

The Rule provides that a “lawyer, the estate of a deceased lawyer, or the guardian or authorized representative of a disabled lawyer may transfer or sell, and a lawyer or a law firm may accept or purchase, a law practice, including goodwill,” if the conditions listed in the Rule are satisfied.

The Illinois Rule is more sophisticated than ABA Model Rule 1.17, and unlike the ABA Rule, the seller must part with the entire law practice, not just the practice dealing with a specific area of the law.

In New Court Rule Permits Practice Sale, Transfer Due to Disability, Death, ISBA Bar News, June 1005, at 1, Stephen Anderson explains that the “ISBA has advocated for almost two decades that such a rule would benefit clients by ensuring continuity of legal service, and would reduce the burden on families of sole practitioners who die unexpectedly or become disabled.”