(a) A lawyer who assumes a judicial, legislative, or public executive or administrative post or office shall not permit the lawyer's name to remain in the name of a law firm or to be used in professional notices of the firm during any substantial period in which the lawyer is not actively and regularly practicing law as a member of the firm, and during such period other members of the firm shall not use the lawyer's name in the firm name or in professional notices of the firm.

(b) A law firm shall not be formed or continued between or among lawyers licensed in different jurisdictions unless all enumerations of the members and associates of the firm on its letterhead and in other permissible listings make clear the jurisdictional limitations on those members and associates of the firm not licensed to practice in all listed jurisdictions; however, the same firm name may be used in each jurisdiction.

(c) A trade name may be used by a lawyer in private practice if it is not misleading. A lawyer or law firm using a trade name in any advertising must include the name of at least one lawyer responsible for its contents.

(d) Lawyers may state or imply that they practice in partnership or other organization only when that is the fact.

Adopted February 8, 1990, effective August 1, 1990.

Rule 8.1. Bar Admission and Disciplinary Matters

(a) An applicant for admission to the bar, or a lawyer in connection with a bar admission application or in connection with a lawyer disciplinary matter, shall not:

(1) make a statement of material fact known by the applicant or the lawyer to be false; or

(2) fail to disclose a fact necessary to correct a material misapprehension known by that person to have arisen in the matter, or fail to respond to a lawful demand for information from an admissions or disciplinary authority, except that this Rule does not require disclosure of information otherwise protected by these Rules or by law.

(b) A lawyer shall not further the application for admission to the bar of another person known by the lawyer to be unqualified in respect to character, education, or any other relevant attribute.

Adopted February 8, 1990, effective August 1, 1990.

Rule 8.2. Judicial and Legal Officials

(a) A lawyer shall not make a statement the lawyer knows to be false or with reckless disregard as to its truth or falsity concerning the qualifications or integrity of a judge, adjudicative officer, public legal officer, or of a candidate for election or appointment to judicial or legal office.

(b) A lawyer who is a candidate for judicial office shall refrain from conduct which, if the lawyer were a judge, would be a breach of the Code of Judicial Conduct.

Adopted February 8, 1990, effective August 1, 1990.

 Rule 8.3. Reporting Professional Misconduct

(a) A lawyer possessing knowledge not otherwise protected as a confidence by these xs or by law that another lawyer has committed a violation of Rule 8.4(a)(3) or (a)(4) shall report such knowledge to a tribunal or other authority empowered to investigate or act upon such violation.

(b) A lawyer possessing knowledge not otherwise protected as a confidence by these Rules or by law that a judge has committed a violation of the Code of Judicial Conduct which raises a question as to the judge's fitness for office shall inform the appropriate authority.

(c) Upon proper request of a tribunal or other authority empowered to investigate or act upon the conduct of lawyers or judges, a lawyer possessing information not otherwise protected as a confidence by these Rules or by law concerning another lawyer or a judge shall reveal fully such information.

(d) A lawyer who has been disciplined as a result of a lawyer disciplinary action brought before any body other than the Illinois Attorney Registration and Disciplinary Commission shall report that fact to the Commission.

Adopted February 8, 1990, effective August 1, 1990.

Rule 8.4. Misconduct

(a) A lawyer shall not:

(1) violate or attempt to violate these Rules;

(2) induce another to engage in conduct, or give assistance to another's conduct, when the lawyer knows that conduct will violate these Rules;

(3) commit a criminal act that reflects adversely on the lawyer's honesty, trustworthiness or fitness as a lawyer in other respects;

(4) engage in conduct involving dishonesty, fraud, deceit or misrepresentation;

(7) assist a judge or judicial officer in conduct that the lawyer knows is a violation of the Code of Judicial Conduct;

(8) avoid in bad faith the repayment of an education loan guaranteed by the Illinois Student Assistance Commission or other governmental entity. The lawful discharge of an educational loan in a bankruptcy proceeding shall not constitute bad faith under this rule, but the discharge shall not preclude a review of the attorney's conduct to determine if it constitutes bad faith; or

(9)(A) violate a Federal, State or local statute or ordinances that prohibits discrimination based on race, sex, religion, or national origin by conduct that reflects adversely on the lawyer's fitness as a lawyer. Whether a discriminatory act reflects adversely on a lawyer's fitness as a lawyer shall be determined after consideration of all the circumstances, including

(1) the seriousness of the act,

(2) whether the lawyer knew that it was prohibited by statute orordinance,

(3) whether it was part of a pattern of prohibited conduct, and

(4) whether it was committed in connection with the lawyer's professional activities.

(B) No complaint of professional misconduct based on an unlawfully discriminatory act, pursuant to paragraph (9)(A) of this rule, may be broughtuntil a court or administrative agency of competent jurisdiction has found that the lawyer has engaged in an unlawfully discriminatory act, and that the determination of the court or administrative agency has become final and enforceable and the right of judicial review of the determination has been exhausted.

(b) A lawyer who holds public office shall not:

(1) use that office to obtain, or attempt to obtain, a special advantage in a legislative matter for a client under circumstances where the lawyer knows or reasonably should know that such action is not in the public interest;

(2) use that office to influence, or attempt to influence, a tribunal to act in favor of a client; or

(3) represent any client, including a municipal corporation or other public body, in the promotion or defeat of legislative or other proposals pending before the public body of which such lawyer is a member or by which such lawyer is employed.

(c) A lawyer who holds public office may accept political campaign contributions as permitted by law.

Adopted February 8, 1990, effective August 1, 1990; amended June 29, 1990; effective July 1, 1990; amended October 15, 1993, effective immediately.

Rule 8.5. Disciplinary Authority; Choice of Law

(a) Disciplinary Authority. A lawyer admitted to practice in this jurisdiction is subject to the disciplinary authority of this jurisdiction, regardless of where the lawyer's conduct occurs. A lawyer may be subject, for the same conduct, to the disciplinary authority of both this jurisdiction and another jurisdiction where the lawyer is admitted.

(b) Choice of Law. In any exercise of the disciplinary authority of this jurisdiction, the Rules of Professional Conduct to be applied shall be as follows:

(1) for conduct in connection with a proceeding in a court before which a lawyer has been admitted to practice (either generally or for purposes of that proceeding), the rules to be applied shall be the rules of the jurisdiction in which the court sits, unless the rules of the court provide otherwise; and

(2) for any other conduct, (i) if the lawyer is licensed to practice only in this jurisdiction, the rules to be applied shall be the rules of this jurisdiction, and

(ii) if the lawyer is licensed to practice in this and another jurisdiction, the rules to be applied shall be the rules of the admitting jurisdiction in which the lawyer principally practices; provided, however, that if particular conduct clearly has its predominant effect in another jurisdiction in which the lawyer is licensed to practice, the rules of that jurisdiction shall be applied to that conduct.

Adopted February 8, 1990, effective August 1, 1990; amended February 14, 1995, effective immediately.

Comment

(February 14, 1995)

(a) Source

The first sentence of Rule 8.5 is substantially equivalent to the rule as originally issued on February 8, 1990, to be effective August 1, 1990, which read as follows: "A lawyer admitted to practice in this jurisdiction is subject to the disciplinary authority of this jurisdiction although engaged in practice elsewhere." This language was identical with the American Bar Association (ABA) Model Rule language as it then stood. The present language of Illinois Rule 8.5 is substantially identical with the present ABA Model Rule language, as amended August 11, 1993. The ABA Model Rule language is followed by an extensive "Comment" which is not adopted in Illinois.

(b) Illinois Code of Professional Responsibility Provisions. The Illinois Code had no provisions relating to this subject.

(c) Other Comment: Paragraph (a) restates longstanding law. Nothing contained in Rule 8.5 abrogates the jurisdiction of the Illinois courts or the Attorney Registration and Disciplinary Commission over Illinois lawyers no matter where they practice: the rule simply directs which law or code of conduct should guide an Illinois tribunal when dealing with attorney conduct in an interstate transaction. The rule does not purport to direct such tribunals when the transaction in question involves jurisdictions outside the United States. In subparagraph (b)(2)(ii), the "jurisdiction in which the lawyer principally practices" refers to the jurisdiction in which the lawyer's principal office is located; the provisions of the subparagraph relating to the "predominant effect" of "particular conduct" shall apply solely to circumstances where there is a single jurisdiction, in which the lawyer is licensed, which experiences that