To appeal a civil case in the Illinois Appellate Court, you file a notice of appeal with the circuit court clerk within 30 days of the final judgment, then prepare the record, submit a written brief, and either argue the case orally or let the panel decide on the briefs alone. The appellate court does not retry the case. Three judges review the record from your trial court and decide whether the trial judge applied the law correctly.1State of Illinois Office of the Illinois Courts. Appellate Court No new witnesses, no new evidence.
Start With the 30-Day Deadline
Nothing else matters if you miss this. Under Illinois Supreme Court Rule 303, your notice of appeal must be filed with the circuit court clerk within 30 days after the final judgment is entered.2Illinois Courts. Illinois Supreme Court Rule 303 – Appeals From Final Judgments of the Circuit Court Timely filing is jurisdictional, meaning the appellate court cannot hear a late appeal no matter how strong the arguments are.
If you filed a timely post-trial motion, such as a motion for a new trial or to reconsider, the 30-day clock resets. It starts over on the date the court rules on the last pending post-trial motion.2Illinois Courts. Illinois Supreme Court Rule 303 – Appeals From Final Judgments of the Circuit Court Count the days from the judgment date, mark the deadline, and give yourself a cushion.
Which Appellate District Hears Your Case
You do not pick the district. Appeals go to whichever of the five appellate districts covers the circuit court that decided your case. The First District, based in Chicago, hears appeals from Cook County alone and is organized into six divisions because of its volume.1State of Illinois Office of the Illinois Courts. Appellate Court The Second District sits in Elgin and covers the collar counties, the Third District in Ottawa covers a band that includes DuPage and Will, the Fourth District in Springfield handles central Illinois, and the Fifth District in Mt. Vernon takes appeals from the southern part of the state.3State of Illinois Office of the Illinois Courts. Appellate Court Second District Each district has its own clerk’s office.
Make Sure You Have an Appealable Order
Most appeals come from final judgments. Under Rule 301, every final judgment in a civil case is appealable as a matter of right, so you do not need any court’s permission to file.4Supreme Court of Illinois. Illinois Supreme Court Rule 301 – Method of Review Criminal defendants have a right to appeal convictions and sentences under a separate set of rules.
If your case is not over yet, your options are narrower. Three rules cover mid-case appeals:
- Rule 304 lets you appeal a judgment that resolves some claims or some parties but not the whole case, but only if the trial judge enters a written finding that there is no just reason to delay the appeal.5Illinois Courts. Illinois Supreme Court Rule 304 – Appeals From Final Judgments That Do Not Dispose of an Entire Proceeding
- Rule 307 gives you an automatic right to appeal certain interlocutory orders, including orders granting or denying injunctions, appointing or refusing to appoint receivers, and orders terminating parental rights in adoption cases.6State of Illinois Office of the Illinois Courts. Illinois Supreme Court Rule 307 – Interlocutory Appeals as of Right
- Rule 308 lets the trial judge certify a disputed legal question for appeal if resolving it could speed the case to conclusion. The appellate court then decides whether to accept it, and the 30-day filing clock runs from either the order or the certification, whichever comes later.7Illinois Courts. Illinois Supreme Court Rule 308 – Certified Questions
Filing under the wrong rule, or without the required trial court finding, can get the appeal dismissed for lack of jurisdiction.
Order the Record
The record on appeal is what the three judges will read. Under Rule 321, it includes the judgment being appealed, the notice of appeal, the full common law record (every document filed, every order entered, every exhibit offered), and any report of proceedings, meaning the transcripts of what was said in court.8Illinois Courts. Illinois Supreme Court Rule 321 – Contents of the Record on Appeal As the appellant, you request these materials from the circuit court clerk and make sure they reach the appellate court.
Transcripts cost money. Illinois court reporters charge $4.00 per page for standard delivery, $4.75 for seven-day expedited delivery, and $5.50 for next-day delivery. A multi-day trial can run to hundreds of pages, so transcript bills in the thousands are common. Fee waivers are available through the appellate court for filers who cannot afford the cost.
If something was never filed or admitted at trial, it is not in the record, and the appellate court will not look at it. This trips up a lot of first-time appellants who assume the panel will consider documents or testimony that never made it into the official file.
Write the Brief
The brief is where you make your case. Rule 341 sets out exactly what it has to contain:9Illinois Courts. Illinois Supreme Court Rule 341 – Briefs
- Points and authorities, a table of contents listing each argument heading with the legal authorities cited under it.
- A statement of issues, listing the legal questions presented without argument.
- A statement of jurisdiction explaining why the appellate court can hear the case.
- A statement of facts, written fairly and non-argumentatively, with page references to the record.
- The argument itself, with each claimed error tied to the record and to supporting case law.
Length limits are firm. The appellant’s brief tops out at 50 pages or 15,000 words, and the reply brief at 20 pages or 6,000 words.9Illinois Courts. Illinois Supreme Court Rule 341 – Briefs Formatting is strict too: 12-point type minimum, double-spaced, with margins of at least 1.5 inches on the left and one inch on the other three sides. Briefs that violate these rules can be rejected by the clerk before a judge ever reads them.
After you file, the appellee files a response brief under the same rules. You then have a chance to file a shorter reply addressing only the points raised in the response.
File Electronically and Pay the Fees
E-filing is mandatory for all civil cases in the Illinois appellate courts.10State of Illinois Office of the Illinois Courts. Information for Filers Without Lawyers The statewide eFileIL system connects you to several certified electronic filing service providers; you pick the one you want to use.11State of Illinois Office of the Illinois Courts. Illinois E-Filing Service Providers Odyssey eFileIL is a commonly used option with step-by-step guides in English and Spanish.12State of Illinois Office of the Illinois Courts. eFileIL (Statewide E-Filing) After you upload, the appellate clerk reviews the submission for formatting and technical compliance. If something is wrong, the filing can be returned for correction, and a rejected filing does not automatically extend your deadline.
Under Rule 313, the appellant pays a $50 filing fee to the appellate court, and each other party entering the case pays $30.13Illinois Courts. How to Request an Appellate Court Fee Waiver The circuit court may charge additional fees to process the notice of appeal, though some waive those fees. Attorney rates for appellate specialists typically run from roughly $140 to over $350 per hour.
If you cannot afford the fees, apply for a waiver. The court looks at your income, expenses, and whether you receive public benefits, and may waive the fees entirely, reduce them to between 25% and 75% of the full amount, or require full payment.13Illinois Courts. How to Request an Appellate Court Fee Waiver A fee waiver from the circuit court does not carry over. You have to apply again at the appellate court.
Oral Argument and the Decision
After the briefs are in, the court may schedule oral argument. To get one, request it on the cover page of your brief. If any party asks for argument, all parties may argue without filing their own request. The court can also decide the case on the briefs if the panel finds no substantial question is presented, though the rules say that power should be used sparingly, and any single panel member can insist on hearing argument.14Illinois Courts. Illinois Supreme Court Rule 352 – Conduct of Oral Arguments Many appeals are resolved on the briefs alone.
If You Lose at the Appellate Court
Two options remain. If you believe the panel overlooked or misunderstood a material point of law or fact, you can file a petition for rehearing within 21 days of the decision. The petition must identify the specific points overlooked, with references to the record and brief, and it cannot simply reargue the case. It is capped at 27 pages, and extensions of the 21-day deadline are granted only in extreme and compelling circumstances.15State of Illinois Office of the Illinois Courts. Illinois Supreme Court Rule 367 – Rehearing in Reviewing Court
You can also ask the Illinois Supreme Court to take the case by filing a petition for leave to appeal under Rule 315. The Supreme Court is not required to accept it. Review is discretionary, and the court weighs things like the general importance of the question, whether the appellate decision conflicts with a Supreme Court ruling or with another appellate district, and whether its supervisory authority needs to be exercised. The deadline is 35 days after the appellate court’s judgment, or 35 days after the denial of a rehearing petition if you filed one.16Illinois Courts. Illinois Supreme Court Rule 315 – Leave to Appeal From the Appellate Court to the Supreme Court Extensions are disfavored. The Supreme Court accepts only a small fraction of petitions, so for most litigants the appellate court’s decision is the final word.