In order to register as an Illinois attorney next year, you will have to go online.

The Illinois Supreme Court announced Wednesday that under its amended Rule 756, lawyers will be required to register online annually starting with the 2016 registration year.

“The entire legal profession is moving to electronic communications,” said Attorney Registration & Disciplinary Commission Deputy Administrator James J. Grogan. “Now those lawyers who file documents electronically will have to register electronically.”

Illinois will become one of at least seven states that requires lawyers to register online.

The Illinois Supreme Court began allowing voluntary online registration nearly a decade ago.

Of the 92,449 lawyers with Illinois law licenses registered before the May class of new lawyers was sworn in, 75,095 — or 81 percent — voluntarily registered online. There are now about 95,000 registered lawyers in the state.

Under the current registration system, lawyers must provide an address and telephone number to be included in the master roll of attorneys.

Under the amended rule, the lawyers will be required to list the type of entity at which they practice; the number of lawyers working there; the primary areas of practice for the lawyer; and whether the entity has a written succession plan.

In February, the ARDC commissioners asked the Supreme Court to consider allowing the commission to receive more explicit registration data.

“We suggested to the court that the disclosure of demographic information will help us to better understand the practice and to better allocate our educational and registration resources,” Grogan said.

The data collected under the rule will be kept confidential by the ARDC with an exception. The contact information provided in an attorney’s listing on the master roll of lawyers will remain publicly available for most lawyers.

Of the lawyers under the age of 30 who registered for 2015, 4,414, or 91 percent, did it online. So did 24 lawyers in their nineties — 41 percent of that age group.

And the lone 100-year-old lawyer who registered did so electronically, Grogan said.

The rule change will provide a cost savings to the ARDC in terms of paper and postage, said Grogan, who was unable to provide an exact figure.

“Principally, it ensures the accuracy of the data that is submitted,” he said. “It speeds up the process and it is much easier for the user.”

It will also reduce the need for ARDC staff to follow-up with attorneys who omit information from their submitted papers. The online option won’t allow registrants to proceed unless all required fields are completed.

The 2016 registration period will start in the fall. The website will be the same, iardc.org.

The ARDC begins sending out registration information to lawyers in early October.

Two large bar group leaders, who said they have registered online for several years, applauded the change.

“It’s time for most lawyers to realize that for cost savings and efficiency, they should utilize the online registration,” said Richard D. Felice, president of the Illinois State Bar Association and owner of Richard D. Felice P.C. in Wheaton. “The process goes faster and you will get your ARDC card much quicker if you register online.

Daniel A. Cotter, president of The Chicago Bar Association and the vice president, general counsel and secretary of Fidelity Life Association, agreed.

“It’s kind of a sign of the times,” he said. “It will be easier for the ARDC to administer (registration) and have better demographic data.”