The Illinois Supreme Court Rules Committee will hear comments June 19 at a public hearing in Chicago on six proposals, including a proposal to establish a protective order for the release of medical information and a proposal involving the use of deposition testimony by a party.

The committee will also consider proposed changes to Supreme Court rules involving petitions for leave to appeal, amicus curiae briefs, and an appendix to briefs filed by appellants.

All the proposals, which must be approved by the Illinois Supreme Court before they could take effect, will be aired at a hearing before the Rules Committee at 10:30 a.m., Wednesday, June 19, in Room C-500 of the Michael A. Bilandic Building, 160 N. LaSalle St. in Chicago. 

The Rules Committee invites public comments on the proposals, which are posted on the Supreme Court website.

To obtain hard copies of the proposals by U.S. mail, please contact Gabriela Conley at the Administrative Office of the Illinois Courts at (312) 793-2558 or gconley@illinoiscourts.gov.

The Supreme Court Rules Committee invites public comments on the proposals. Written comments should be submitted no later than Wednesday, June 5, to:

abowne@illinoiscourts.gov or via mail to: Committee Secretary, Supreme Court Rules Committee, 222 N. LaSalle Street, 13th Floor, Chicago, Illinois 60601. All written comments submitted will also be published and accessible on the Supreme Court's website.

To be scheduled to testify at the public hearing, please send an email or written request to the Rules Committee Secretary, as noted above, no later than Wednesday, June 12.

The following are the proposals which the Rules Committee seeks comment on:

Proposal 16-08, submitted by the Appellate Lawyers Association, would amend Supreme Court Rules 306, 308, and 315. The proposals would establish 30-day timeframes for deciding whether to accept petitions for leave to appeal under Rule 306, applications for leave to appeal under Rule 308, and remove the 21-day timeframe from Rule 315(f).

Proposal 17-03, submitted by the Illinois Trial Lawyers Association, would amend Supreme Court Rules 206 and 212. The proposals would allow a party to use the video recording of a deposition or reading from a stenographic transcript of the deposition, and allow discovery depositions to be used as a former statement of a party.

Proposal 18-01, submitted by Cook County Circuit Court Judge John H. Ehrlich, would amend Supreme Court Rule 218. The proposal would establish a protective order for the release of medical information.

Proposal 18-04, submitted by the Appellate Lawyers Association, would amend Supreme Court Rule 345. The proposal would allow litigants to submit amicus briefs that both support and oppose petitions for leave to appeal.

Proposal 18-12, submitted by the Appellate Lawyers Association, would amend Supreme Court Rule 315. The proposal would (1) clarify that the page and word counts set forth in the rule exclude not only the appendix but any items identified as excluded from the length limitation in Rule 341(b)(1); and (2) allow extra pages for the appellee and the appellant, and extra time for the appellant, when the appellee seeks cross-relief in the Illinois Supreme Court.

Proposal 19-02, submitted by the Appellate Lawyers Association, would amend Supreme Court Rule 342. The proposal would allow an appellant to submit a supplementary appendix, without filing a motion seeking leave to do so, when record material not included in the appellant's original appendix or the appellee's supplementary appendix would aid the court in evaluating the merits of the appeal.

Justice Thomas L. Kilbride serves as Supreme Court liaison to the Rules Committee and the Hon. John C. Anderson, Twelfth Judicial Circuit, is chair of the committee.