To report a lawyer’s misconduct in Illinois, send an ARDC attorney complaint form to the Attorney Registration and Disciplinary Commission of the Illinois Supreme Court. You can file online, by email, by mail, or by fax, and you are not required to use the official form — a plain letter covering the same information works.1Attorney Registration and Disciplinary Commission. File a Complaint There is no filing fee. Every written complaint gets reviewed, and you will be notified in writing whether the commission opens an investigation.
What the ARDC Can and Cannot Do
The ARDC exists to discipline lawyers who violate the Illinois Rules of Professional Conduct. Its power ends at the law license: it can reprimand, censure, suspend, or disbar. It cannot get your money back, reverse a court ruling, or file criminal charges.1Attorney Registration and Disciplinary Commission. File a Complaint
Some situations belong somewhere else:
- Fee disputes with no ethical violation attached.
- Financial compensation for negligent representation, which requires a malpractice lawsuit in civil court.
- Criminal conduct by a lawyer, which goes to the police or the State’s Attorney.
- Complaints against state court judges, which go to the Illinois Judicial Inquiry Board.
- Requests for legal advice, case takeover, or removal of your current lawyer. Only you can discharge your attorney.
The ARDC does act on conduct like neglecting a client’s case, lying to a court, mishandling client funds, failing to communicate, or practicing without a valid license. If that matches what happened to you, a complaint fits.
Information to Include
The commission asks you to provide as much of the following as you can:
- Your full name, mailing address, phone number, and email address.
- The lawyer’s full name, firm name, office address, phone number, and email address.
- Your relationship to the lawyer — your attorney, an opposing party’s attorney, or someone you dealt with in another capacity.
- When the representation started, any fee agreement you signed, and the total fees paid as of the date you file.
- Any related court cases, including case names, docket numbers, and the courts involved.
- A clear description of what the lawyer did or failed to do that you believe was improper.
- Copies of fee agreements, receipts, letters, emails, and court papers that back up your account.
Send copies, not originals. The ARDC does not return documents. If money is involved, list specific dollar amounts and dates for each transaction. A chronological timeline is more useful to investigators than a general narrative.
How to Submit the Complaint
You have three form options: an online complaint form at fileacomplaint.iardc.org, a downloadable PDF you can print and complete by hand, and a fillable PDF that requires Adobe Acrobat. All three are also available in Spanish.1Attorney Registration and Disciplinary Commission. File a Complaint A letter or email covering the same information is equally acceptable.
Submit through any of these channels:
- Online, through the complaint portal.
- Email to information@iardc.org.
- Mail to ARDC, 130 E. Randolph Dr., Ste. 1500, Chicago, IL 60601-6219, or ARDC, 3161 W. White Oaks Dr., Ste. 301, Springfield, IL 62704.
- Fax to the Chicago office at (312) 565-2320 or the Springfield office at (217) 546-3785.
Keep a complete copy of everything you send. If you use mail or fax, consider a method that provides delivery confirmation.
What Happens After You File
An ARDC lawyer reviews your complaint. Most people receive a letter within two to six weeks stating whether the commission will investigate. Either way, the lawyer you complained about is sent a copy of your complaint, so your filing is not anonymous — the attorney will know who filed and what you said.2Attorney Registration and Disciplinary Commission. FAQs For the Public
If an investigation opens:
- The lawyer is asked for a written response, typically due within two to four weeks. Lawyers are required to cooperate.
- Investigators may contact you for follow-up, interview witnesses, or request records such as bank statements.
- Most investigations conclude within two to six months. Complex matters take longer.
- You will receive a written notification of the outcome.
Not every investigation ends in discipline. The ARDC may close the matter if the evidence does not support a violation. Less serious matters may end with the lawyer completing a remedial or educational program. Significant misconduct proceeds to a formal hearing.
Discipline the Illinois Supreme Court Can Impose
If a violation is proven, the Illinois Supreme Court imposes discipline under Rule 770. The sanctions, from least to most severe, are reprimand, censure, suspension, and disbarment.3State of Illinois Office of the Illinois Courts. Illinois Supreme Court Rule 770 A lawyer can also consent to disbarment, which skips the contested hearing but produces the same result. Discipline becomes part of the lawyer’s public record on the ARDC’s website, where anyone can look up an attorney’s registration status and disciplinary history.
If Your Lawyer Took Your Money
The ARDC’s Client Protection Program may reimburse losses caused by a lawyer’s dishonesty, up to $100,000 per claim. Payouts tied to the conduct of any single lawyer are capped at $1,000,000. There is no fee to file a claim.4Attorney Registration and Disciplinary Commission. Client Protection Program
To qualify, all of the following must be true:
- Your loss resulted from intentional dishonesty, not negligence or poor strategy.
- The lawyer wrongfully took, used, or withheld your money or property.
- The loss happened while the lawyer was acting as your attorney or in a fiduciary role such as trustee or escrow agent.
- The lawyer has already been disciplined by the Illinois Supreme Court (disbarred, suspended, censured, or placed on probation) or has died.
- You have made reasonable efforts to recover through other means, such as civil litigation or insurance.
Fee disputes, personal loans to the lawyer, and losses from negligence rather than theft do not qualify. File within three years of learning about the loss, or within one year after the lawyer was disciplined or died, whichever is later.4Attorney Registration and Disciplinary Commission. Client Protection Program For claim forms or questions, call (312) 565-2600 or (800) 826-8625, and send completed forms to the Chicago office.
Disciplinary Complaint or Malpractice Lawsuit
These are separate tracks, and the distinction matters. A disciplinary complaint asks the state to punish a lawyer for violating professional conduct rules. A malpractice lawsuit asks a civil court to make the lawyer pay you for harm caused by incompetent representation. The two use different standards, and one result does not control the other. A lawyer can be cleared by the ARDC and still lose a malpractice case, or the reverse.1Attorney Registration and Disciplinary Commission. File a Complaint
If you want compensation for damage caused by bad legal work, you need the malpractice suit. If you want the lawyer held accountable for ethical violations, file with the ARDC. Pursuing both is often reasonable, since neither blocks the other.