Circuit Court of Cook County Filing Rules

Motion packet must include the complaint with all exhibits including Mortgage(s) and Note(s).

Pleadings must contain the Clerk's stamp showing prior electronic filing.

The report cover sheet must include the case caption with case number, hearing date and time, receiver name, receiver contact information, and a certificate of service to all parties.

No party may appear without first filing an appearance, except for a petition to intervene.

After entry of an order of default, the plaintiff must obtain a prove-up date for entry of judgment.

When excessive size makes emailing courtesy copies impractical, the Court may accept a hand-delivered, non-password-protected USB drive instead, upon specific request.

Courtesy copies must be submitted in a single email containing only two attachments.

Heard as scheduled by the court, generally Mondays at 9:00 AM. Tender courtesy copies of the motion and prove-up documents to the court via email in text-searchable PDF format and hard copies. Failure to provide the court with a complete set of courtesy copies may result in the motion being stricken.

Briefs must be emailed or linked in text-searchable PDF with bookmarks to Law.calTcc@cookcountyil.gov.

Courtesy copy packets for motions to approve judicial sales must include the specified documents, including a compliant Notice of Sale.

Stamped order inquiries for Judge Amee Alonso must be submitted via email to Probatecrt1804orders@cookcountycourt.com.

Notify the law clerk at least 72 hours before court for non-Spanish/Polish interpreters.

If a litigant or attorney cannot connect to a Zoom hearing, they must immediately call (312) 603-7554 and/or email ccc.mfmlcalendar64@cookcountyil.gov to notify the Court.

Piggy-backed motions are permitted if scheduled with the Case Coordinator at least one week in advance.

Parties must submit post-trial materials by email to the specified chambers address.

The regular motion call is at 10:30 a.m., unless a motion is routine, emergency, piggybacked, or otherwise scheduled by the Court.

Responses to summary judgment motions must be filed within 14 days after the motion is filed.

On the business day before a court holiday, emergency motion requests must be submitted by noon; after noon they are handled the next business day after the holiday.

Requests to Produce at Trial must be delivered to the Court seven days before the final pre-trial conference.

Emergency motions and supporting papers must be submitted no later than 4 p.m. the day before presentment.

The Movant must send notice of all scheduled matters to all parties of record and attach the pleadings to the Notice of Motion; failure to do so prevents the Court from hearing the case.

A certificate of service for responses to master discovery must be served on all parties.

The plaintiff must give notice of a Prove-Up on the subsequent ERP Management Date with ERP notices attached and file the notice with the Clerk of Court.

The movant must serve the signed scheduling order and provide notice to all parties of record before 5:00 PM on the filing day via fax, email, or hand-delivery.

Approved agreed orders must be sent electronically to counsel and self-represented litigants within 48 hours by the Clerk.

Courtesy copy submissions must be under 30 MB including attachments.

Exhibits/attachments exceeding 300 pages must be provided in PDF on a USB flash drive instead of paper.

Proposed orders must not place the judge's name on a stand-alone page.

Affidavits in support of foreclosure judgments must not have a stand-alone signature page if formatting allows the signature to begin on the last page of the affiant's statements.

Deposition transcripts cited in briefing must use at least 11-point font.

Emergency motions with a proposed order must be submitted by 10:00 AM by email and must include an introductory paragraph stating the grounds for the emergency.

Listed documents (confidential or personal identity information, confessions of judgment, sealed/impounded documents, etc.) may not be electronically filed.

Petitions to settle cases involving minors, disabled persons, survival, or wrongful death claims must be dropped off in Room 2204.

Agreed motions and orders may be filed by email or drop off instead of spindling through Odyssey.

Trial materials must be emailed to chambers and opposing counsel or the opposing self-represented litigant at least 14 days before the pre-trial conference.

Motions and response briefs limited to 15 pages; reply briefs limited to 10 pages; exclusive of exhibits, with formatting and citation requirements.

Briefs are limited to 15 pages, double-spaced, exclusive of exhibits.

Motions and response briefs are limited to 15 pages and reply briefs to 10 pages, with all supporting exhibits excluded from the count.

Supporting/opposing memoranda are limited to 13 combined pages; reply briefs are limited to 6 pages; page limit extensions require a prior written motion.

Pre-trial memoranda are limited to five pages or fewer.

A piggy-backed motion may be heard on a previously scheduled date only if separately scheduled with the Case Coordinator at least one week beforehand.

Contested motions that are not piggy-backed must be spindled through Odyssey to obtain a presentment date and time.

Motions to modify, vacate, alter, or extend CMC orders are only heard on CMC dates, not Regular or Emergency Motion Calls.

Parties may request a settlement conference by motion, or the Court may consider one at a status date; setting the conference requires agreement to the stated substitution-of-judge limitation and good-faith participation.

Routine motions do not require a court appearance; motions and draft orders must be emailed to the Court Coordinator at least two court days before entry.

Trial dates are firm. Continuances will rarely be granted and only for good cause—usually involving serious illness (or death) of counsel, a party, or a necessary witness. A motion for continuance should be brought as early as possible and should be supported by an affidavit.

A party must move to modify the briefing schedule before their own brief is due.

It is the responsibility of the parties to submit the requested Agreed Order to the Calendar 16 email within two (2) days of such rescheduling request. Failure to meet this deadline may result in the court striking a pending motion or setting a new date without input from the parties and/or counsel.

Trial dates are firm; a continuance request must be written, made before the pretrial conference, show good cause, and be supported by affidavit, and agreed motions will not be considered.

Trial continuances are disfavored; the court will enforce compliance with Rule 231, require an affidavit of Engagement, include subpoena proof for unavailability, require due diligence for expert witnesses, and may deny eleventh-hour requests.

All damages must be proven up together in one motion, not piecemeal, without the Court's prior consent.

All damages must be proven up together in one motion, not piecemeal.

A default and a default judgment must be obtained separately and cannot be bundled or decided at the same time.

Courtesy copies and proposed orders for remote proceedings must be submitted in one email per case; multiple emails for same case are prohibited.

Trial materials must be joint submissions; separate allowed only with good faith disagreement.

Original medical reports (CCP-211) must be filed with the Clerk of the Court under seal for in-person guardianship proceedings.

A motion to seal or for a protective order cannot cover all documents or pleadings.

If any materials are submitted which a party would like to remain confidential, the materials should be marked as such; otherwise, the Court will assume it has been seen by all parties (if it is not confidential, please provide a courtesy copy to the other parties).

Fee petitions filed under seal or for in camera review require prior leave of Court, including special State's Attorney fee petitions.

Motions to file under seal must detail privacy interests, be supported by affidavit, include redacted version as exhibit, and cannot apply to all documents; protective orders must state they do not apply to court orders.

The Early Resolution Program is free to participate in; no appearance or fee is required to participate.

A $2.00 Dispute Resolution Fund fee is charged in all civil cases, paid by the initiating party at filing, except for proceedings by local government units.

A fee petition is granted without formal presentment if the ASA does not object and the court approves it upon review.

Litigants who cannot afford the appearance fee may ask the Clerk for a Petition to Waive Court Fees.

Instructions for filing an appearance and the Application for Waiver of Fees are available at ilcourts.info/forms.

Attorneys, advocates, and interpreter cases take priority; all participants must be on time and ready when their case is called.