5-105.5.Representation by civil legal services provider.

This section defines the players in Illinois's free-legal-help system and gives them a shortcut around the fee-waiver application process. A "civil legal services provider" is a not-for-profit that either employs Illinois-licensed attorneys who directly provide free civil legal services, or is organized so an organized panel of pro bono attorneys provides those services. A "court-sponsored pro bono program" is the same kind of pro bono panel, but established by or with a court. An "eligible client" is an indigent person found eligible by one of those providers or programs, and "indigent person" here means income at or below 125% of the current federal poverty guidelines, or otherwise eligible under the provider's or program's own guidelines.

Subsection (b) is where the shortcut lives. When a party is represented by a civil legal services provider or a court-sponsored pro bono attorney, all fees and costs relating to filing, appearing, transcripts on appeal, and service of process are waived without a motion, and the case still gets an index or other filing number. That happens once the provider or attorney has determined the party is indigent and the attorney files a certification of that determination with the clerk, alongside the complaint, appearance, or other paper that would otherwise require a fee.

Subsection (c) ties amendments made by the 98th General Assembly to actions commenced on or after July 1, 2013, and, for actions already pending, to fees and costs that come due after that date.