The Supreme Court of Illinois has extended the Jan. 1, 2018, deadline to implement mandatory e-filing for all civil cases for Cook and Winnebago Counties. The request for an extension by Greene County was denied. 

The Circuit Court of Cook County will have six more months to prepare for mandatory electronic filing, according to an Illinois Supreme Court order issued Friday, Dec. 22, 2017.  Through June 30, the county is allowed to continue permissive e-filing with a commitment to complete the full case management system integration by April 1. By May 1, Cook County must permit filings for all civil case types to be made on eFileIL. Read the order on the Illinois Courts website to see the full list of conditions.

This extension comes after a request early last month from Cook County Circuit Court Clerk Dorothy Brown to push back the start date a full year, stating that the county's vendor, Tyler Technologies, could not fully meet the deadline. The Circuit Clerk's office will work with Tyler to meet the extended deadline, including the testing of essential functionality.

All ISBA systems will be down due to electrical work beginning Friday, Dec. 29 at 8 a.m. until Saturday, Dec. 30 at 12 p.m. (noon). During this time the ISBA website will not be available. As a result you will also not be able to log into Fastcase, online CLE, and ISBA Central. Here is what you need to know and steps you can take to ensure continued service.

Online CLE

You will not be able to access online CLE at all during the outage. If you need to complete CLE credit before the end of the year, we strongly urge you to plan to finalize that before the outage. 

ISBA Central Communities and Discussion Groups

Discussion groups will still be available via email, but you will not be able to log into ISBA Central. (Note: if you are already logged into the ISBA website, you may be able to access ISBA Central by going to it directly at http://central.isba.org).

Fastcase

For members who need to access Fastcase during this time, please follow the instructions below.

Robert Chapman Buckley, retired Justice of the Illinois Appellate Court, was born on August 14, 1923, in Canton, Illinois to Peter Mark and Marguerite nee Waugh Buckley. He died Tuesday, November 28, 2017, surrounded by family in Arlington Heights, Illinois.

Justice Buckley attended St. Mel High School in Chicago. After attending Morton Junior College, Justice Buckley enlisted in the Army and immediately joined the Army Air Corps. He served as a pilot, navigator, and radar operator for the 305th Bomb Group, flying daytime raids in B-17 bombers out of Chelveston, England. He was recognized for his service with the Distinguished Flying Cross, the Meritorious Service Medal, the Air Medal with two Oak Leaf Clusters, the European Theatre Ribbon with four battle stars, and the Army Commendation Ribbon.

After the war, Justice Buckley returned home and graduated from De Paul University and then went on to Georgetown University, from which his received his Juris Doctorate degree and was a member of the legal fraternity Phi Alpha Delta. While a full-time law student, he worked nights at the U.S. Senate Office Building in Washington, D.C. as a Capitol Police Officer.

The day he opened his law office in Chicago, Justice Buckley, then an Air Force reservist, was called to serve in the Korean conflict. He left once again, this time to fly jet refuelers. 

Illinois Supreme Court Rule 9(c)(4) was amended to allow a good cause exemption to e-filing for self-represented litigants (SRL). The rule change is effective immediately for proceedings in the supreme court and appellate courts. For proceedings in the circuit courts, the amended rule is effective on Jan. 1, 2018.

The amended rule defines the good cause exemption, which must be shown by certification and filed with the court before or with an initial pleading, that exempts SRLs from the e-filing requirement. It also specifies the procedures that must be followed to properly obtain the exemption.

The rule change comes less than three weeks before electronic filing in civil cases will be mandatory across Illinois, and reflects the Illinois Supreme Court's commitment to ensuring access to justice for everyone, including vulnerable SRLs.

Under the amended rule, good cause exists where a self-represented litigant is not able to e-file documents for the following reasons:

• No computer or Internet access in the home and travel represents a hardship 
• A disability, as defined by the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, that prevents e-filing
• A language barrier or low literacy (difficulty reading, writing, or speaking in English)
• If the pleading is of a sensitive nature, such as a petition for an order of protection or civil no contact/stalking order

Judges retain discretion to determine whether good cause is shown, or if, under particular circumstances, good cause exists without the filing of a certificate.