ARDC Search Help
Lawyer Search
Search for attorneys licensed by the Supreme Court of Illinois
ARDC has created an online lookup to find lawyers who are licensed by the Supreme Court of Illinois.
The lookup is accessible from the ARDC home page at www.iardc.org or directly at
www.iardc.org/lawyersearch.asp.
Search Instructions
Overview
SEARCH BY NAME (Basic Search) AND/OR LOCATION (Advanced Search)
Search terms can be combined in many ways.
Basic Search: Last
name is a required
search term, but can
be combined with
first name and/or
the option of doing a
phonetic search.
Advanced Search:
Last name is a
required search
term, but can be
combined with other
optional criteria to
find an attorney
(such as first name,
location information
or status).
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ARDC Search Help
Detailed Steps for Advanced Searching
SEARCH BY LAST NAME
Searching by last name can be done with the exact spelling or phonetically.
With the Last Name
Match set to
“Exact,” enter the
lawyer’s last name.
Be sure the spelling
is exact or the search
will not return the
results you are
looking for.
• The search is not case sensitive
• Last name searches will display only up to 75 records per
search. If your search would yield more than 75 records, you
will be prompted to narrow your search.
If you aren’t sure of
the spelling, change
the Last Name
Match to “Phonetic”
and take a guess at
the spelling of the
last name.
• A phonetic search for “tomson” will find similar names,
such as Thomson, Thomason, Thomsen, Townson, etc.
• Last name searches will display only up to 75 records per
search. If your search would yield more than 75 records, you
will be prompted to narrow your search.
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ARDC Search Help
OPTIONAL – ADD OTHER SEARCH CRITERIA
Searches can be narrowed by adding other search criteria.
If a search by last
name resulted in too
many records,
narrow the search
by entering other
criteria, such as First
Name, Status, City,
State or Country.
• When entering the first name, you can enter as much of the
name as you are sure of. Searching for “Ken” will find Ken,
Kenneth, Kendrick, etc.
• Do not enter additional search criteria unless you are
certain! Entering the wrong City, for example, will exclude
the lawyer you are searching for.
CONDUCT THE SEARCH
Once you have entered your criteria, click on the Submit button to conduct the search.
When you have
entered the required
last name and any
optional criteria,
click the Submit
button.
• You can also click on Clear Search to enter new criteria.
• This search would find attorneys authorized to practice
whose last name is Smith and first name begins with Jo
(John, Joseph, Joanne, etc.) with a Chicago address.
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ARDC Search Help
NARROW THE SEARCH
When a search returns too many records, you are asked to narrow your search.
If your search results
exceed the limits,
you can edit your
search criteria by
clicking the Edit
Search button or
start over by clicking
the New Search
button.
• The limit is 20 records for an Exact search and 75 records
for a Phonetic search.
• Click Edit Search to go back to the previous screen and
modify your search criteria or click New Search to remove
previous criteria and start over.
• There are Edit Search and New Search buttons both above
and below the search results – either one can be used.
Search Tips
Enter broad search terms first
If you enter too many search terms, your search may be too restrictive and may not return the desired
results. Begin with a broad search, such as the last name, and if you get too many results you can easily
narrow your search.
Exact name search must be exact!
If a name is misspelled, the record will not show in the search results.
When you don’t know the spelling of a lawyer’s name
If you don’t know the correct spelling of the lawyer’s name, you can use the Phonetic search feature.
This will return a list of all lawyers matching any other criteria (first name and city, for example)
whose last names are similar to the search criteria entered in the last name field. You can then scroll
through the search results to find the name.
Narrow, but not too narrow
If your search returns more than the limit of records, try adding other criteria one at a time. Only enter
search terms you’re certain of, since entering incorrect search terms will cause the search to fail.
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ARDC Search Help
Search Results
Overview
VIEW THE RESULTS
Lawyers matching your criteria are listed in the LAWYER SEARCH RESULTS
screen.
The search results show
your search terms near
the top of the screen.
Lawyers that match
your criteria are listed
along with their date of
admission, city, state
and whether they are
authorized to practice.
Working with Search Results
MODIFY THE SEARCH
From the Lawyer Search Results screen, you can go back to change your criteria.
If the results are not
what you are looking
for, you can modify
your search by clicking
the Edit Search button.
• Click Edit Search to go back to the previous screen and
modify your search criteria.
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ARDC Search Help
Your last search terms
will still be displayed in
the previous screen.
Change your search
terms as desired and
click on Submit again.
• This search would find attorneys authorized to practice
whose last name is Smith and first name begins with Jo
(John, Joseph, Joanne, etc.) with an address in any city.
START A NEW SEARCH
From the Lawyer Search Results screen, you can start a new search.
Rather than edit your
previous search criteria,
you can start a new
search by clicking the
New Search button.
•
Click New Search to go back to the previous screen and
enter new search criteria.
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ARDC Search Help
Your last search terms
will still be cleared from
the previous screen.
Enter new search terms
as desired and click on
Submit again.
Registration and Public Disciplinary Records
ACCESS A LAWYER’S RECORDS
From the Search Results, you can access registration and public disciplinary records.
From the Lawyer Search
Results screen, click on
the lawyer’s name to
see certain public
information.
• Click the name of the attorney to access a link to his or
her registration and public disciplinary record.
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ARDC Search Help
The attorney’s
registration and public
disciplinary record will
display.
• Check carefully to be sure that you have selected the
correct lawyer. At times, lawyers have similar names.
• Note that registration status changes may not be reflected
on Lawyer Search until the following business day.
Return to search from
the attorney’s record
screen, if desired.
• Click the Return to Search button at the bottom of the
screen to return to the Search screen after viewing the
attorney record.
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