For the first time in Illinois, lawyers will be required to report how much pro bono work they do in order to renew their law licenses.

The Illinois Supreme Court ruled in June that lawyers must now disclose the amount of free legal work and community service they perform. Lawyers who do not send in their service hours by Jan. 1 cannot practice law next year.

But there is still no requirement that Illinois lawyers must do any pro bono work.

"This is a critical step in trying to improve the delivery of legal services to unrepresented clients most in need," Illinois Supreme Court Justice Thomas L. Kilbride said in written statement. "By requiring lawyers to report their pro bono activity, we hope to see an increase in volunteer attorneys for those who would otherwise have no legal representation."

Michael Bergmann, the director of the Pro Bono Initiative in Chicago, agreed that the new rules will increase community service awareness among Illinois attorneys.

He stressed that lawyers will not lose their licenses if they have not performed any pro bono work this year. He said lawyers should not confuse a law mandating pro bono service with one that only calls for reporting pro bono service.

"The most important word here is 'report,' in that you just need to report (your service hours)," Bergmann said. "You can report zero. You can report 100."

He said pro bono hours reported by individual lawyers will not be publicly released. However, the Supreme Court has ruled that the state may disclose the total amount of legal volunteer hours performed each year in Illinois.

Aside from Illinois, Florida, Maryland, Mississippi and Nevada are the only states that have adopted mandatory pro bono reporting rules.