November 02, 2009
Law school to host swearing-in ceremony
CARBONDALE, Ill. -- The Southern Illinois University School of Law will host a swearing-in ceremony on Thursday, Nov. 5, for 130 new attorneys in Illinois.
Illinois Supreme Court Justice Lloyd A. Karmeier will preside over the ceremony, which begins at 2 p.m. in the auditorium in the Hiram H. Lesar Law Building at Southern Illinois University Carbondale.
Media Advisory
Reporters, photographers and camera crews are welcome to attend and cover the ceremonies. For more information, contact Joseph Tybor, Illinois Supreme Court press secretary, at 312/793-2323.
Interim Dean Frank G. Houdek will speak at the ceremony. The opening speaker is John Thies, third vice president of the Illinois State Bar Association, and a member of the Champaign-Urbana based law firm Webber & Thies, P.C.
“The School of Law is honored to once again host the swearing-in ceremony for attorneys newly admitted to the Illinois Bar from the state’s Fifth Appellate district,” Houdek said. “Along with their first day of law school, their induction as lawyers-in-training later in the first year, and their commencement exercise three years later, it is hard to think of a more important day in the life of our law students than when they are sworn in as licensed attorneys.
“We are delighted that Justice Karmeier has again invited us to host the ceremony because so many of those participating in the ceremony will be alumni of the School of Law,” Houdek said. “It is a pleasure to be a part of this special day in their lives. We also look forward to the opportunity of showing off our school and its hospitality to those in attendance who have not previously experienced it.”
Elected to the state’s highest court in 2004, Karmeier, a one-time Washington County state’s attorney, served as resident circuit judge in the 20th Judicial Circuit from 1986 to 2004.
Karmeier earned his bachelor’s degree in 1962 and his law degree, in 1964, both from the University of Illinois.
The new attorneys are among 2,408 men and women who will be sworn in as Illinois attorneys at ceremonies in the state’s five Supreme Court Judicial Districts, according to the Illinois Supreme Court. The new attorneys bring the number of licensed attorneys in the state to approximately 86,000, according to the state supreme court.
Similar ceremonies will take place Thursday in Chicago, Elgin, Moline and Springfield.
The attorneys come from the within Illinois’ Fifth Judicial District, which is comprised of 37 counties in the state. Those counties are Alexander, Bond, Christian, Clay, Clinton, Crawford, Montgomery, Edwards, Effingham, Fayette, Franklin, Gallatin, Hamilton, Hardin, Jackson, Jasper, Jefferson, Johnson, Lawrence, Madison, Marion, Massac, Monroe, Perry, Pope, Pulaski, Randolph, Richland, St. Clair, Saline, Shelby, Union, Wabash, Washington, Wayne, White and Williamson.