Circuit Court of Cook County Filing Rules

All dispositive motions must include the order striking the case from case management (4331) as an exhibit and state that the motion complies with the pre-trial timeline.

Service notices must include the address, telephone number, and e-mail of every attorney and pro se litigant.

The receiver fees section must detail hourly rate, hours, time charges, monthly meetings, expenses, and prohibits charging for software.

All pleadings must include the full case caption, calendar number, and property address.

A routine motion emailed to the Court must include a proposed order for entry.

For every motion, the moving party must provide the Court courtesy copies of the motion and notice at least seven days before the presentation or hearing date.

The moving party must supply courtesy copies 10 court business days before each court date, along with the briefing schedule order and other relevant orders; failure may result in denial of the motion.

For established matters transferred to Calendar W by 2005, parties must make the court copies of the last five orders, all pleadings, and all pending motions, delivered by email in text-searchable PDF with bookmarks at assignment (and by hard copy for pending motions), or the motion may be stricken.

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

The moving party must provide all courtesy copies to the Court unless the parties agree otherwise.

Courtesy copies for Judge Daniel R. Degnan must be submitted via email to daniel.degnan@cookcountyil.gov.

Contact the Court's judicial law clerk for legal or procedural concerns.

For languages other than Spanish and Polish, notify the law clerk at least 72 hours before the court date so an interpreter can be arranged.

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

Parties must email routine motions, proposed orders, and relevant courtesy copies to chambers for law-clerk review during normal operating hours.

Objections may be made by a written filing and emailed to ccc.chancerycalendar1@cookcountyil.gov before 9:30 a.m. on the date noticed.

Master written discovery requests are deemed filed in each case on the date the case is filed.

Proposed orders following a hearing must be submitted within 24 hours; if not received within 72 hours, the Court may enter its own order, strike the motion, or dismiss the case.

A party opposing a routine motion must object in writing within 48 hours of receiving the emailed routine motion, copying Law.calTcc@cookcountyil.gov.

Motions in post-judgment municipal cases under $10,000 must be scheduled only for Monday or Wednesday at 1:30 p.m.

Self-represented litigants with e-mail must designate one e-mail address for service and include it on all court documents and correspondence.

A defendant's responses to master discovery in one case are deemed served in all subsequent cases.

Motions served personally, by email, or fax must be served by 4:00 PM on the second preceding court day.

A self-represented litigant with an email address must designate a single email address for service and include it on all court documents and correspondence.

All pleadings and motions must be served in compliance with the Illinois Supreme Court Rules.

Citations must be placed in the body text, not as endnotes.

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

Attachments to the courtesy copy email must be in PDF form only.

Case management orders must be limited to 1-2 pages.

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

Routine motions marked agreed may be submitted by email (copying all parties) or at a scheduled case management conference.

Certain case types (adoption, juvenile, mental health, ordinance violations, etc.) are excluded from electronic filing.

Agreed Dismissal Orders may be submitted via email or dropped off in Courtroom 2204.

Petitions to settle certain cases must be physically delivered to Courtroom 2204.

Regular motions must be electronically filed on the Chancery Division’s Odyssey docket.

Sur-responses require leave of court and are limited to 5 pages unless otherwise ordered.

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.

Motions must be filed with and scheduled through the Clerk of the Circuit Court to be heard.

A motion determined not to be an emergency may still be spindled or piggy-backed as a regular motion.

Oral argument is available upon request, held at 11:30 AM, 1:30 PM, 2:00 PM, or 2:30 PM.

Only motions for alias summons, orders dismissing an entire case voluntarily, and certain agreed orders are considered routine or off call.

Only the listed motion types are considered routine motions exempt from appearance requirements.

Incomplete discovery is not a valid basis for continuing a trial.

Hearing dates may only be changed by court order.

A motion to extend the discovery cut-off filed before the deadline and noticed for the next court appearance is sufficient; an emergency appearance is not necessary.

A request to continue a hearing or oral argument must be made by written motion in advance and show good cause; an affidavit is recommended.

If parties need to reschedule, please contact the court to obtain a new date.

The Court will not enter multiple judgments of foreclosure in one case without prior consent.

Motions to confirm multiple judicial sales must be brought together (single or simultaneous), 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.

Evidentiary hearing 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.

Parties must obtain leave of court before filing documents or materials under seal.

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.

If the Early Resolution Program does not resolve the case, the defendant must file an appearance, which requires a fee; a fee waiver is available for those unable to pay.

On transfer to a department/division/district with a higher fee, the plaintiff pays the difference in filing fees and each defendant pays the difference in appearance fees.

Fee petitions must be scheduled for 9:00 a.m. or when the case is already set, and must comply with CP Division Administrative Order 21-1 and SCR 299.

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.