How to File a Response to a Motion in Illinois: Deadlines, eFileIL, Hearing

To file a response to a motion in Illinois, you draft a signed written opposition, file it electronically through the eFileIL system by your circuit court’s deadline, and serve a copy on every other party in the case. The deadline, the exact form, and what you need to attach all depend on the type of motion and the local rules of the circuit court where your case is pending, so the first move after you’re served with a motion is to look up those local rules.

Find Your Deadline First

Illinois has no single statewide deadline for responding to a civil motion. Timeframes are set by each circuit’s local rules and can vary by motion type. In Cook County’s Law Division, the deadline for an answering memorandum on most non-discovery motions is 28 days after the motion is served. Summary judgment motions in Cook County carry their own schedule: they must be filed and noticed for hearing at least 45 days before trial, which compresses the response window accordingly.¹

As soon as you receive the motion, pull up your circuit court’s website and search its local rules for motion practice. If the deadline isn’t clearly posted, call the circuit clerk and ask. Don’t borrow a number of days from an article about a different county.

What happens if you miss it? In Cook County’s Law Division, failing to file your answering memorandum on time doesn’t count as withdrawing your opposition. It means you waive the right to file that memorandum, and the judge can still rule for you on the merits.¹ But showing up with nothing in writing is a losing posture. The judge reads the motion; your side of the story isn’t in front of them.

What Your Response Should Contain

Every court filing in Illinois needs a caption that identifies the court, the case title, and the case number. In cases with multiple plaintiffs or defendants, you can list only the first-named plaintiff and the first-named defendant as long as the case number appears. Include the county where the case is pending, and label the document clearly, such as “Response to Defendant’s Motion to Dismiss.”²

If you’re representing yourself, start with the standardized forms approved by the Illinois Supreme Court Commission on Access to Justice. Every Illinois court is required to accept them, and the set includes forms for responses and for proof of delivery. You can download them from the Illinois Courts website.³ Attorneys typically skip the forms and file a memorandum in opposition, which is a legal brief arguing why the motion should be denied, supported by case law and statutes. If your motion is complex and the form doesn’t give you enough room, you can attach a separate memorandum or file one on its own, following your circuit’s formatting rules.

On substance: a response to a motion isn’t the same as an answer to a complaint. You’re not going paragraph by paragraph admitting or denying allegations. You’re explaining to the judge why the other side’s request should be denied. Read the motion carefully, identify each argument it makes, and address each one directly. If the motion relies on facts you dispute, say so and explain why. If it cites legal authority, explain why that authority doesn’t apply or why other law points the other way. “I disagree with everything” gets you nowhere.

Sign the document. If you have a lawyer, at least one attorney of record signs. If you’re self-represented, you sign and include your address. That signature isn’t a formality: it certifies that you’ve read the filing, that it has a basis in fact and law after a reasonable inquiry, and that you’re not filing it to harass the other side or run up their costs.⁴

When You Need an Affidavit

If your response relies on facts that aren’t already in the court record, you need to prove them, usually with an affidavit and any supporting documents. For responses to summary judgment motions under 735 ILCS 5/2-1005 and motions to dismiss under 735 ILCS 5/2-619, this isn’t optional. Illinois Supreme Court Rule 191 sets strict standards for those affidavits:

They must be based on the signer’s personal knowledge, not hearsay or guesswork.
They must state specific facts, not conclusions like “the defendant acted unfairly.”
Any contract, email, or other record the affidavit references must be attached as a sworn copy.
The facts stated must be the kind that would be admissible at trial.
The signer must be someone who could competently testify to those facts under oath.

If no single person knows all the relevant facts firsthand, you can file multiple affidavits from different people.⁵ Judges routinely strike affidavits that read as legal argument instead of fact, so precision matters.

Label exhibits clearly (Exhibit A, Exhibit B, and so on) and reference each by its label in the body of your response. Attach them in the order you discuss them.

For a 2-619 motion to dismiss, if your affidavits deny the facts the movant alleged or establish facts that defeat their grounds for dismissal, the court can take evidence on the motion. A genuine dispute of material fact can lead the court to deny the motion or let the issue proceed.⁶ The job of your response is to show the judge that real factual questions exist that can’t be resolved on paper.

The Rule 201(k) Catch on Discovery Motions

If the motion you’re responding to is a discovery motion, such as a motion to compel, check whether the movant included a Rule 201(k) certification. That rule requires every discovery motion to include a statement that counsel personally consulted with the other side and made reasonable attempts to resolve the dispute before involving the court. If the motion is missing that certification, you can argue it should be denied on that basis alone. If you’re filing a cross-motion of your own as part of your response, you need to include the certification yourself or risk having your motion thrown out.

Filing Through eFileIL

Illinois Supreme Court Rule 9 requires electronic filing in virtually all civil cases, and paper filings generally aren’t accepted unless you qualify for an exemption under the rule.⁷ The statewide system is eFileIL.⁸

Create an account on eFileIL or log into your existing one. Select the correct circuit court and enter your case number so the system links the filing to the right record. Upload your response as a PDF, with any affidavits and exhibits as separate attachments. Everything gets grouped into a “filing envelope.” Choose the correct document type from the dropdown; the wrong category can slow the clerk’s review.

After submission you’ll get a transaction receipt, and then an email confirming the clerk accepted the filing. Save that confirmation. It’s your proof of timely filing. If the clerk rejects your submission for a formatting error or wrong document type, you’ll get a notice explaining why. Fix it and resubmit fast, because the deadline clock doesn’t pause while you sort out a rejected filing.

If You Can’t Afford the Filing Fee

Not every response triggers a filing fee, but when fees apply, eFileIL will prompt you for payment at submission. Fees vary by county and motion type. Under 735 ILCS 5/5-105, you can apply for a full or partial waiver based on your household income relative to the federal poverty level:

Full waiver if your income is at or below 125% of the federal poverty level.
75% reduction if your income is above 125% but no more than 150%.
50% reduction if your income is above 150% but no more than 175%.
25% reduction if your income is above 175% but no more than 200%.

The 2026 federal poverty level for a single person is $15,960 per year, so full waiver eligibility runs up to about $19,950 for one person.⁹ A four-person household qualifies for a full waiver at $41,250 or less, and a single person earning up to $31,920 can still get a 25% reduction.¹⁰

The court can deny or reduce a waiver if your non-exempt assets suggest you could pay without undue hardship, so the application looks at your overall financial picture.¹⁰ File the fee waiver application as a separate transaction from your response, using the standardized form on the Illinois Courts site.³

Serving the Other Parties

Filing with the court doesn’t notify the other side. Under Illinois Supreme Court Rule 11, you serve every attorney of record, or the party directly if they’re self-represented.¹¹

The default method is electronic service, by email or through eFileIL. If a self-represented party has no email, or a court order calls for something different, you can serve by personal delivery, by leaving the document at the attorney’s office or the party’s residence, by U.S. mail, or by commercial carrier.¹¹

Then file proof of service with the clerk under Illinois Supreme Court Rule 12. The proof varies by method. For mail service, it’s a certificate or affidavit stating the time and place of mailing, the full address on the envelope, and that postage was prepaid. For email, state the time of transmission and the address used. Keeping the proof in your own file isn’t enough; it has to be filed with the clerk.

Showing Up to the Hearing

The party who filed the motion is generally responsible for scheduling and noticing the hearing. In Cook County, the notice has to list the case title and number, the judge’s name, and the date, time, and location.¹ Check the electronic docket in your case regularly so a hearing date doesn’t catch you by surprise.

Under Illinois Supreme Court Rule 45, you can attend most civil motion hearings remotely, by video or phone, without needing the judge’s advance permission. Evidentiary hearings, settlement conferences, and trials are the main exceptions where remote appearance requires approval. The hearing notice should include what you need to join the remote platform, and courts can’t let technology fees block access. Each circuit has its own local rules on remote participation, platform details, and decorum, so check your circuit’s site before the hearing. A judge can require in-person attendance for case-specific reasons, including past failures to follow courtroom decorum, and must say so on the record if in-person attendance will be required going forward.¹²

A Warning on Frivolous Responses

Filing a response to stall the case or annoy the other side can cost you. Rule 137 lets a court order a party who signed a baseless filing to pay the other side’s reasonable attorney fees and expenses caused by it, and in extreme cases to have defenses stricken. The standard is objective: whether a reasonable person, after reasonable inquiry, would have believed the filing was justified. Sanctions are reserved for genuinely baseless filings, not arguments that merely lost. A motion for sanctions has to be filed within 30 days of final judgment, or within 30 days of a ruling on a pending post-judgment motion.⁴

1
Circuit Court of Cook County. Part 2 – Hearing of Motions
2
Illinois Courts. Illinois Supreme Court Rule 131 – Form of Documents
3
Office of the Illinois Courts. Approved Statewide Standardized Forms
4
Illinois Courts. Illinois Supreme Court Rule 137 – Signing of Pleadings, Motions and Other Documents
5
Illinois Courts. Illinois Supreme Court Rule 191 – Proceedings Under Sections 2-1005, 2-619 and 2-301(b)
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Illinois General Assembly. 735 ILCS 5/2-619 – Involuntary Dismissal Based on Certain Defects or Defenses
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Illinois Courts. Illinois Supreme Court Rule 9 – Electronic Filing of Documents
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Clerk of the Circuit Court of Cook County. eFile
9
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. 2026 Poverty Guidelines
10
Illinois General Assembly. 735 ILCS 5/5-105 – Waiver of Court Fees, Costs, and Charges
11
Illinois Courts. Illinois Supreme Court Rule 11 – Manner of Serving Documents Other Than Process and Complaint on Parties Not in Default
12
Illinois Courts. Illinois Supreme Court Rule 45 – Remote Appearances in Circuit Court Proceedings