The Illinois Supreme Court Rules Committee recently announced it will hold a special virtual public hearing on February 2, 2022, to hear testimony on a proposal to introduce a new Illinois Code of Judicial Conduct. 

The proposal comes from the Illinois Judicial Ethics Committee (IJEC), a joint committee of the Illinois State Bar Association, the Chicago Bar Association, and the Illinois Judges Association.  The committee is chaired by Steve Pflaum, Neal Gerber Eisenberg's Litigation practice group co-chair, who has served as a founding member of the IJEC since 1992 and has served as its chair since 2013.

The Illinois Code of Judicial Conduct proposal, Proposal 21-08, is based on the American Bar Association’s 2007 Model Code of Judicial Conduct and seeks to advance the IJEC’s mission of promoting the highest standards of ethical conduct by judges in Illinois.  Thirty-seven states have previously adopted new Codes of Judicial Conduct based on the 2007 Model Code.

Click here to read the proposal and learn more about the hearing.