CBA Record July-August 2023

the orders against the notice of appeal to see if the court has jurisdiction over some or all of the orders listed therein. The clerk of the Circuit Court of Cook County now automatically gener ates a table of contents for each volume of the certified record, which indicates the date a pleading or order was filed, a very abbreviated (and sometimes incor rect) title for the document, and the page numbers of record at which the docu ment can be found. It is not sufficient to copy the clerk’s table of contents and put it in your appendix to comply with Rule 342. The rule also requires the appellant’s table of contents to the record to contain: (1) the nature of each document, order, and pleading; and (2) the names of all witnesses and the pages on which their direct examination, cross examination, and redirect examination begin. Justices do not find the clerk’s abbreviated table of contents to be helpful when they are look

ing for the main order granting summary judgment, since the record may contain 50 or more orders all simply labeled “ORDER.” And if they want to read the cross-examination of the key expert wit ness, the clerk’s index will only show a designation such as “Report of Proceed ings for April 1, 2021.” The rules require an appellant to provide more. Here’s an example:

to the record can be a tedious chore, the result will be immensely helpful to the court. Finally, if your appellate practice is lim ited, simply search for Illinois appellate court briefs on a web search engine. The web sites of many law firms and legal clin ics contain full copies of excellent briefs they have filed in important cases. Use them as a guide, but make sure to care fully review the Illinois Supreme Court rules and the local rules of the applicable appellate district so your brief may be as effective as possible.

Trial – April 1, 2021

Witness testimony:

Dr. Jane Doe

Direct examination pp. 1-50 Cross-examination pp. 51-75 Redirect examination pp. 76-90 Although preparing a compliant index

Justice Mathias W. Delort is the presiding justice of the Fifth Division of the Illinois Appellate Court, First District.

Did You Know? The CBA’s first Annual Meeting was held on December 30, 1874, at the Grand Pacific Hotel. The speakers included the Association’s First President William C. Goudy, Lyman Trumbull, Thomas Hoyne, and the United States Secretary of the Interior Orville Browning.

30 July/August 2023