SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (AP) – Illinois Supreme Court justices will administer the oath to nearly 500 new Illinois attorneys on Thursday.

The Supreme Court announced Monday there will be seven ceremonies to inaugurate the 476 candidates.
The new group will bring the number of licensed attorneys in Illinois to 96,700. Each of the candidates passed the Illinois State Bar Examination and a required ethics exam. Each was certified by the Supreme Court Committee on Character and Fitness.

The largest group of 327 will be sworn in at three separate ceremonies at the James R. Thompson Center in Chicago’s Loop. They are lawyers serving the state’s First Judicial District.

Ceremonies will also proceed in Elgin for the Second Judicial District, Ottawa for the third district, Springfield for the fourth and Collinsville for the fifth.