Video Four- Motions

Welcome to a video series by the Administrative Office of the Illinois Courts. These short videos are aimed at helping self-represented litigants, otherwise called people without lawyers, with civil appeals. You should know that this video content is for informational purposes only and should not be considered legal advice. You must speak with a lawyer if you need legal advice. This is video #4 in our civil appeals series for the Illinois Appellate Court. In this video, we will discuss how to file a motion should you miss a deadline or need more time to file documents for your appeal. Keep watching for more information! This video will focus on explaining Motions. We’ll first define some terms that you may hear when filing paperwork for your appeal. Then, we’ll talk about what a motion is and why you might need to file one. We will also go over e-filing requirements in Illinois. And finally, we’ll give you some contact information on where to go for more information. We want to take a moment to define some terms that we will be using in this video that may be unfamiliar to you. The Appellate Court is a court of review. A person has the right to request a review of a circuit court judge’s decision by the Appellate Court with or without the assistance of a lawyer. Appellant - If you are filing the appeal, you are considered the appellant. The person or party responding to the appeal is the Appellee. Motion - This is a form an appellant or appellee will need to file whenever either party wants to ask the appellate court to take action on their appeal. The rest of this video will explain this form and the required steps. Service - All of the documents you file in court must be sent to the other side of the case, this is called “serving the other party” and it is a required step. We’ll discuss how you can send these documents to the other party, or their lawyer if they have one, later in this video. This is a simplified overview of the multiple steps involved in a civil appeal. Motions can be filed at any point in your case. There are additional videos in this series that cover the remaining steps required in an appeal. Additionally, you can find more information about the steps necessary to complete an appeal on the Court’s website. So, what is a motion and why might you need to file one? A motion is a document the appellant or appellee can use to ask the appellate court to take a specific action for the appeal. Whenever you need to make this type of request, it is done in writing via a motion that is filed in the appellate court. You will not appear in front of the court to make arguments about your motion, so you must write a strong argument as to why the court should grant your request. Some reasons why you might need to file a motion include: you missed a deadline for your appeal and you want to request permission from the court to file the document late; you realize that a deadline is approaching, but you need more time to prepare a document for filing you wish to supplement the record; or you are requesting a stay of a judgment or order by the circuit court. You should know that it does not cost anything to file a motion with the court. However, the court may require payment for other fees due. For example, if you are filing a motion to file a late docketing statement, the court may require you to pay the fee for the docketing statement. The first video in this series discusses all of the fees for an appeal, who is responsible for paying those fees, and fee waivers if you are unable to pay. Please watch video #1 for more information. We want to take a moment to explain the different courts and clerks offices, because this can be confusing for some people. This chart summarizes the documents that are filed in each of the respective clerk’s offices. Motions for your appeal will be filed in the appellate court. In general, these are the steps for filing a motion in the appellate court. File your motion in the appellate court and include a proposed order. All motions must be served on the other party in your case or their lawyer if they have one. Please be certain to check the Illinois Supreme Court Rules and the local appellate rules for your district. You might be wondering if the other party or side filed a motion, can I respond to it? The answer is yes. You can respond to a motion by submitting a written response to the court. Remember that you’ll need to serve your reply on the other party or their lawyer if they have one. A response to a motion is generally due within 5 days if you received the motion by personal service or email or within 10 days if you received the motion by mail or 3rd party carrier. It is very important for you to recognize how significant deadlines are for your appeal. We simply cannot stress the importance of deadlines enough. All documents that you will need to submit for your appeal, including motions, have very strict deadlines. For example, if you missed the due date for filing your Notice of Appeal, your motion is due within 30 days of the original deadline. If you do not submit your documents on time, you may lose the right to appeal. If you are confused about deadlines or have questions about your appeal, it is your responsibility to proactively reach out to the appellate clerk’s office. Their staff can tell you about the cost of filing fees, confirm due dates, and answer general questions about the appellate process. You should know that all of the forms you’ll need to complete your appeal, including motions, are available on the Court’s website. They are available for download from a computer or smart device. The Motion comes with a “getting started” page, which outlines important information you should know, such as the Illinois Supreme Court Rules that govern its submission. The Motion also includes detailed “how to” instructions that explain each step in completing the form. The instructions are written in simple language to help you understand what information is being requested and why. Please be certain to consult these instructions when completing your Motion form. The Motion form itself is available for you to complete and submit to the court. The form also has very brief instructions in the left hand margin to help guide you through completion. The Motion also includes a proposed order, which you will need to complete and submit at the time you file your motion. It is a required step, so please be sure to follow the instructions and submit that page along with your motion. Finally, the Motion has a proof of service page within it. This is important because when you file any document with the appellate court, you must serve, or send, a copy of that filing to the other side or their lawyer if they have one. Serving the other party is a required step and you must complete the proof of service page to show how you sent the document to the other side. Now that you know where to locate the instructions and forms that you’ll need for your Motion, let’s discuss how to file it with the court. As a reminder, E-filing is mandatory in all Illinois courts and there are only a few exceptions to this rule. You will need to e-file your Motion into your appellate court case. Video #2 in this series covers e-filing. Please be certain to watch that video for more information on how to e-file your documents or how to request an e-filing exemption if you qualify. These resources may help you with your appeal. The Civil Appeals Self-Help website has many resources for you to review, including: Comprehensive appellate guides and overviews that help explain procedure and rules; a detailed Frequently Asked Questions guide that discusses all stages of an appeal; and step-by-step E-filing guides to help you file your appeal. You can also find the appellate clerk’s contact information and all of the forms that you’ll need to complete your appeal on the court’s website. Here is the contact information for the Appellate Resource Program at the Administrative Office of the Illinois Courts. Please feel free to contact our office for more information. Thank you for watching and stay tuned for additional videos on civil appeals for people without lawyers.