E-Filing is mandatory for all civil case filings in Cook County except Quasi-Criminal, Housing, and Wills, using the eFileIL system.
This order does not affect the right to file or serve documents conventionally per applicable laws and rules.
E-filing is permitted only in specified civil divisions of the Circuit Court of Cook County, subject to Illinois Supreme Court Rules 15 and 138.
E-filing is excluded for specified case types including adoption, juvenile, mental health, and others.
Specified document types, including those with confidential info, certain petitions, and sealed documents, may not be electronically filed.
E-filing is only permitted via the Clerk's Website; other methods including fax are not accepted.
Courtesy copies are prohibited from being delivered to the Clerk's Office, but judges may accept them independently.
The electronic filing system allows filing 24 hours a day, every day.
E-filed documents are deemed filed the same day if received M-F 8:30a-11:59p; otherwise deemed filed next business day at 8:30a.
Electronically submitted documents are deemed filed if not rejected by the Clerk's Office.
Motions may be filed and hearings scheduled M-F 8:30a-11:59p excluding holidays via the EFM.
Pro se litigants must register with the Clerk's Office and provide name, mailing address, email, and phone number.
E-filed documents are endorsed with a visible file stamp merged into the document, equivalent to conventional filing stamps.
Clerk's Office must email receipt, acceptance, and rejection notices for e-filed documents.
E-filing does not change any existing filing deadlines.
Only registered authorized filers may e-file or e-serve documents.
Illinois and permitted out-of-state attorneys must register with the Clerk's Office, be in good standing, and provide ARDC number.
Clerk's Office may reject documents non-compliant with format requirements, statutes, or rules.
E-filed documents must include case number, case type, filer name, party name, and document type.
E-filed documents may not exceed 5 MB; large documents may be split into multiple files.
Bulk filings allow multiple 5MB files; different cases must be separate files/transactions; same case multiple docs can be same transaction but separate PDFs.
Exhibits must be scanned per size limits; non-electronic exhibits may be filed conventionally; exhibit index required.
Word processing documents must use ≥12pt body font, ≥10pt footnotes, 8.5x11" paper, 1" margins, and blank 2x2" top right first page corner.
E-filed documents must be in PDF; text searchable PDF preferred; proposed orders must be word processing converted to PDF.
Links in e-filed documents are for convenience only; external linked material is not part of the court record.
Court/Clerk not liable for e-filing errors; filers must attempt to resolve technical errors, then may seek court relief.
Personal identity info required by law must have conventional Notice; redacted docs may be e-filed; filers responsible for redaction, Clerk not liable.
Motion to file under seal may be e-filed without prior authorization; sealed document not attached to motion.
E-filed documents certified conventionally at Clerk's Office M-F 8:30a-4:30p excluding holidays; fee per statute.
Statutory filing fees apply to e-filed documents; fee-free documents also allowed.