CBA Record April-May 2019

Illinois Supreme Court Rule 9, which established mandatory elec- tronic filing of all pleadings in civil cases in the Illinois appellate and supreme courts, became effective on July 1, 2017. Ill. S. Ct. R. 9(e) (eff. July 1, 2017); see also Ill. S. Ct. M. R. 18368 (Jan. 22, 2016) (All references to rules in this article are to the Illinois Supreme Court Rules unless otherwise specified.) Electronic filing in circuit courts becamemandatory sixmonths later, on January 1, 2018. To themany practitioners who have electronically filed federal court pleadings for years through the PACER system, the transition was an easy one. It has been challenging, though, for self-represented litigants and attorneys who did not practice in federal courts.

T HIS ARTICLE ADDRESSES A NUMBER OF COMMON errors made by parties when they practice in the Illinois appellate court for the First District under the new e-filing rules. Many of these errors result from a failure to recognize the differences between the old paper-only system and the new elec- tronic system. While most of the content in this article explains the application of Illinois Supreme Court rules that are uniform statewide, the local motion practice of appellate courts outside the First District may vary somewhat from that explained here. Motions Rule 361 governs the content of motions filed in the Illinois appel- late and supreme courts, and Rules 11 and 12 govern service of those motions. In short, these rules require electronic service of all documents, with rare exceptions. Ill. S. Ct. R. 361 (eff. July 1, 2017); Ill. S. Ct. R. 11 (eff. July 1, 2017); Ill. S. Ct. R. 12 (eff. July 1, 2017). Rule 11 allows for the possibility of service by mail only when “a self-represented party so opts, or if service other than electronic service is specified by rule or order of court, or if extraordinary circumstances prevent timely electronic service in a particular instance * * *.” Ill. S. Ct. R. 11 (eff. July 1, 2017); see Rule 9(c) (eff. Dec. 12, 2018) (setting forth exemptions from e-filing for incarcerated persons and persons with a disability, among others). The proof of service should indicate that the motion was served on opposing parties either by an e-filing system that notified them automatically, or by direct transmission to a particular e-mail address of the opposing party. Any response to an electronically served motion is due five calendar days after service (Ill. S. Ct. R. 361(b)(3) (eff. July 1, 2017)), not ten days, which was the common response time when motions were served by mail. The ten-day period only still applies in the rare cases where e-filing has been excused and service is by traditional methods such

as US mail or personal delivery. See Ill. S. Ct. Rs. 12(b)(1), 12(b) (2), 361(b)(3) (eff. July 1, 2017). When a new appeal is docketed in the Illinois Appellate Court for the First District, it is randomly assigned to one of the court’s six divisions. Ill. App. Ct., First Dist., R. 3(B) (Sept. 1, 2004). That division will maintain the case “for motion purposes,” that is, until the reply brief is either filed or the deadline for filing it has passed. At that point, it becomes a “ready case” and is again randomly assigned, this time to an authoring justice and two panel members from the author’s division. Ill. App. Ct., First Dist., R. 2, § I(B) (Sept. 1, 2004). There are some exceptions to this rule. For instance, a new appeal related to a previous appeal will be assigned to the same author as the first case. Ill. App. Ct., First Dist., R. 2, § I(D) (Sept. 1, 2004). Each division has a designated deputy clerk who processes all motions assigned to the division. The presiding justice of the divi- sion serves as “motion justice” and handles almost all motions filed in the normal course of business. Motions filed on cases to which an author has already been assigned, however, are transmitted to the authoring justice. Most orders on motions are signed by a single justice. Ill. App. Ct., First Dist., R. 1(C) (“any judge of the division may decide any motion of course”) (Sept. 1, 2004). Some motions, such as to dismiss an appeal, require three signatures because they dispose of a pending case. See Ill. Const. Art. VI, sec. 5. These orders are circulated among the justices in the assigned division. Any electronically filed brief, motion, record, or other document is first placed in a queue for review by the court clerk to verify it complies with the Illinois Supreme Court electronic requirements, can be opened and read, and for housekeeping issues such as inclu- sion of the required proposed order, proper proof of service, and the correct case number. See generally Ill. S. Ct. eFileIL Electronic Document Standards, ver. 1.2 (eff. Nov. 2017); Ill. S. Ct. Electronic

CBA RECORD 29