Illinois Supreme Court Enters Order for Mandatory E-Filing

By July 1, 2017, e-filing of civil cases in Illinois will be mandatory for the Illinois Supreme Court and Illinois Appellate Courts. Beginning Jan. 1, 2018, e-filing of civil cases will be mandated for all Illinois courts.

The Illinois Supreme Court entered an order this year, M.R.18368, which set the timeline for mandatory e-filings statewide. A unified e-filing system is designed to increase court efficiency and streamline the litigation process for lawyers and pro se litigants.

The Administrative Office of the Illinois Courts (AOIC) has hired Texas-based Tyler Technologies to roll out a centralized, statewide e-filing system. The Tyler Technologies’ platform is currently being used in 19 states.

On Aug. 19, 2016, SB 3162 was signed into law. It’s now known as PA 99-0859, which imposes court automation fees that will be used to get e-filing “up and running.” Because there is a hard deadline for compliance, Tyler Technologies will be working to make sure that the statewide e-filing becomes active and compliant with the new law.

It is expected that the e-filing process will be a convenience to lawyers, their clients and to the public generally. Making the courts readily and easily available to the public has always been the policy of the judicial branch of government.

Kreisman Law Offices has been handling civil jury trials, commercial litigation, catastrophic injury cases and product defect cases for individuals families and businesses for more than 40 years in and around Chicago, Cook County and its surrounding areas, including Tinley Park, Arlington Heights, Orland Park, Olympia Fields, Hinsdale, Mount Prospect, Prospect Heights, Palatine, Rosemont, Vernon Hills and Lincolnshire, Ill.