Lawyers' Worst E-Filing Nightmare


In Peraino v. Winnebago County, after summary judgment was awarded to the defendant, the plaintiff's attorney waiting until the last few minutes before the deadline to file a motion to reconsider.  That deadline landed on 1/3/17.  The attorney apparently attempted to upload the motion at 11:55 pm that day, but ran into issues getting the file to upload, such that it was not processed and date-stamped until 12:03 am on 1/4/17.

On appeal, plaintiff's attorney relied on a local rule regarding e-filing technical problems.  There was a discussion about whether a user error was a technical problem within the scope of the local rule (the trial court ruled it was not).

Ultimately though the appellate court noted the problem here was a new e-filing spin on a longstanding legal principle.  The 30 day deadline after final judgment lapsed, meaning the court no longer had jurisdiction over the case, and therefore could not provide the relief sought.  Similarly, the plaintiff's attempt to have the trial court reconsider its ruling had no effect on the 30 day deadline for filing a notice of appeal.  Contrary to what many might believe, asking the court to reconsider a decision does not "stop the clock" on an appeal deadline.

The court was somewhat sympathetic and acknowledged this ruling "might appear harsh" but reiterated that plaintiff's attorney had 30 days to file a motion or request an extension of the deadline, and did not do so.  The court also noted that even after the 30 days expired, the attorney could have filed with the appellate court requesting leave to file a late notice of appeal.

As Illinois attorneys, court staff, and pro se litigants learn the nuances of e-filing (and different county court systems around the State are at different stages of implementation on this), chances are good that this type of issue will happen again.  It's a lesson to all of us to allow time for "technical difficulties" when filing on deadlines.

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