It will cost more to become a licensed attorney in Illinois next year. Fees for the bar exam are going up by 100 dollars.
Starting January 1, regular application fees will be 500 dollars. Late fees will go up to 700 dollars, but those filing at the very last minute will still pay a thousand dollars.
It’s the second part of a fee increase approved by the Illinois Supreme Court in 2011. Before that, fees had not gone up for 10 years.
Lawrence Hill is the president of the Illinois Board of Admissions to the Bar, which is in charge of the exam. He says the old rates were no longer covering the Board’s expenses.
“The administration of the exam, location fee for producing the exam, costs relating to moving part of the exam to the Internet.”
Hill says he does not know how long the new, higher rates will be able to fund the board’s operations.