What Michelle Obama's "court ordered inactive status" as a lawyer means

If you go to the website run by the Attorney Registration and Displinary Commission of the Supreme Court of Illinois and search for the record belonging to Michelle Obama (link, earlier screengrab here), you'll find that her Illinois Registration Status is listed as "Voluntarily inactive and not authorized to practice law - Last Registered Year: 1993" and her Malpractice Insurance status is listed as "No malpractice report required as attorney is on court ordered inactive status" (bolding added).

The last bit has caused quite a stir, however a paralegal with Illinois ARDC has just clarified for me that this is not an indication of wrongdoing. Rather, prior to 2000, attorneys who wanted to become inactive had to seek the permission of the IL Supreme Court, and that's the court order being referred to. Since 2000, no such court order is necessary, but prior to 2000 it was. Further, I'm informed that if there were any sort of disciplinary action taken against her it would be listed on that page.

Note that in the record her maiden name is given (Michelle Lavaughn Robinson) and Barack Obama's record is here, including his full name. His status is listed as "Voluntarily inactive and not authorized to practice law - Last Registered Year: 2008".

While there doesn't seem to be anything to this story, don't worry: there's plenty more to discuss about Barry and Michelle.

Mon, 01/05/2009 - 13:39 · · Importance: 9