Illinois Motion to Compel

Introduction

Key Things to Know

1. 1

   Illinois puts two requirements on the RESPONSES that no federal rule carries, and an Illinois discovery fight usually turns on them rather than on adequacy arguments. Rule 214(c): the producing party shall furnish an affidavit stating whether the production is complete in accordance with the request, and copies of identifications, objections and affidavits of completeness shall be served on all parties entitled to notice. A production arriving without that affidavit is deficient on the face of the rule. Rule 213(g): the information disclosed in answer to a Rule 213(f) interrogatory, or in a discovery deposition, limits the testimony that can be given by a witness on direct examination at trial. So a thin 213(f) answer caps what the other side's witness may say.

2. 2

   Rule 219(a) is the provision, and it is one sentence doing two jobs. A deponent who refuses to answer on oral examination is dealt with first: the examination is completed on other matters or adjourned as the proponent prefers, and thereafter, on notice to all persons affected thereby, the proponent may move the court for an order compelling an answer. Written discovery follows in the next sentence, covering a refusal to answer a written deposition question, a failure to answer any interrogatory served, and a failure to comply with a request for the production of documents or tangible things or inspection of real property, all on like notice.

3. 3

   The costs test is the inverted one, so read it before anything else. Rule 219(a): if the court finds that the refusal or failure was without substantial justification, the court shall require the offending party or deponent, or the party whose attorney advised the conduct complained of, or either of them, to pay the aggrieved party the reasonable expenses incurred in obtaining the order, including reasonable attorney's fees. The finding is the gateway, not an escape hatch. There is no unjust-circumstances clause, no apportionment limb for a split result, and no provision firing the award because the other side produced after you filed.

4. 4

   The exposure runs both ways, on the same single condition. If the motion is denied and the court finds that the motion was made without substantial justification, Rule 219(a) says the court shall require the moving party to pay the refusing party the reasonable expenses incurred in opposing the motion, including reasonable attorney's fees. Note who is named on each limb. On a win the award can reach the party whose attorney advised the conduct complained of. On a loss it runs against the moving party alone, not against that party's attorney.

5. 5

   Rule 201(k) is titled Reasonable Attempt to Resolve Differences Required and it binds every motion with respect to discovery, not only this one. The statement goes inside the motion document and the rule prescribes what it says: that counsel responsible for trial of the case, after personal consultation and reasonable attempts to resolve differences, have been unable to reach an accord, or that opposing counsel made himself or herself unavailable for personal consultation or was unreasonable in attempts to resolve differences. That second alternative is there for a movant who was stonewalled. Rule 201 was last amended March 17, 2023, effective immediately, and the subdivision is still lettered (k).

6. 6

   Illinois counts in 28s, and production has no fixed period at all. Rule 213(d) requires a sworn answer or an objection to each interrogatory within 28 days after service. Rule 216(c) admits each fact and each document's genuineness unless a sworn denial or written objections are served within 28 days. For documents, Rule 214(a) has the REQUESTING party name the date: the request shall specify a reasonable time, which shall not be less than 28 days after service of the request except by agreement or by order of court. So the production deadline is whatever your own request said, and that is the date to measure against. Rule 213(d) also requires the answering party to set forth in full each interrogatory being answered immediately preceding the answer.

7. 7

   Two boundaries replace the deadline Illinois does not set. At the front, Rule 201(d) provides that prior to the time all defendants have appeared or are required to appear, no discovery procedure shall be noticed or otherwise initiated without leave of court granted upon good cause shown, which is why Illinois has no defendant clock running from service of process. At the back, Rule 218(c) requires all dates for disclosure of witnesses and the completion of discovery to be chosen to ensure that discovery will be completed not later than 60 days before the date on which the trial court reasonably anticipates that trial will commence, unless otherwise agreed. The Rule 218 order controls the subsequent course of the action unless modified.

Illinois Requirements for Motion to Compel

• Illinois's Own Name for the Filing, Under Rule 219(a)

  Ill. S. Ct. R. 219(a) is captioned Refusal to Answer or Comply with Request for Production, and its words are a motion for an order compelling an answer or, for written discovery, an order compelling an answer or compliance with the request. Caption the filing that way. It reaches deposition answers on oral examination and on written questions, interrogatories served, and a request for the production of documents or tangible things or inspection of real property.

• Whether You Received a Refusal or an Objection, Because They Go Different Places

  Rule 219(a) answers a refusal or a failure. An objection goes elsewhere: Rule 213(d) requires any objection to an answer or to the refusal to answer an interrogatory to be heard by the court upon prompt notice and motion of the party propounding it, Rule 214(c) says the same for a request for documents, and Rule 216(c) for requests to admit. Requests to admit are not compellable at all, because Rule 216(c) admits each fact and each document's genuineness after 28 days absent a sworn denial or written objections.

• The Rule 201(k) Statement, Incorporated Into the Motion Itself

  Rule 201(k) is captioned Reasonable Attempt to Resolve Differences Required and provides that every motion with respect to discovery shall incorporate a statement that counsel responsible for trial of the case, after personal consultation and reasonable attempts to resolve differences, have been unable to reach an accord, or that opposing counsel made himself or herself unavailable for personal consultation or was unreasonable in attempts to resolve differences. It is a component of the motion, not a separate filing, and the second recital exists for a movant who was stonewalled.

• The Dates, Including the Production Date Your Own Request Fixed

  Rule 213(d) gives 28 days after service for a sworn answer or objection to each interrogatory. Rule 216(c) gives 28 days for a sworn denial or written objections. Production has no fixed period: under Rule 214(a) the request specifies a reasonable time which shall not be less than 28 days after service except by agreement or by order of court, so the date in your own request is the one to measure against. Record also when all defendants appeared or were required to appear, since Rule 201(d) bars discovery being initiated before that without leave for good cause.

• The Missing Affidavit of Completeness on a Document Production

  Rule 214(c) requires the producing party to furnish an affidavit stating whether the production is complete in accordance with the request, and requires copies of identifications, objections and affidavits of completeness to be served on all parties entitled to notice. There is no federal analogue, so a production served without it is deficient on the face of the rule. The same subdivision lets a party claiming the item is not in its possession or control be ordered to submit to examination in open court or by deposition about that claim, and Rule 214(d) imposes a continuing duty to seasonably supplement.

• What a Rule 213(f) Witness Answer Must Contain, and What It Costs Them

  Rule 213(f) requires disclosure by written interrogatory of lay witnesses, independent expert witnesses and controlled expert witnesses, with prescribed content for each category, including for a controlled expert the subject matter of the testimony, the conclusions and opinions and the bases for them, the qualifications of the witness and any reports prepared about the case. Rule 213(g) attaches the consequence: the information disclosed in answer to a Rule 213(f) interrogatory, or in a discovery deposition, limits the testimony that can be given by a witness on direct examination at trial.

• The Finding You Have to Ask For Before Any Expenses Can Be Awarded

  Rule 219(a) does not presume the award. The court shall require payment of the aggrieved party's reasonable expenses incurred in obtaining the order, including reasonable attorney's fees, only if it finds that the refusal or failure was without substantial justification, and the award can reach the offending party or deponent or the party whose attorney advised the conduct complained of. Ask for that finding expressly. Illinois carries no unjust-circumstances clause, no apportionment limb for a split result, and no provision firing the award because the material arrived after filing.

• Whether the Case Is Inside the Rule 222 Tier, Which Changes the Discovery Available

  Rule 222 reaches cases subject to mandatory arbitration, civil actions seeking money damages not in excess of $50,000 exclusive of interest and costs, and tax collection cases under the same figure, while not applying to small claims, ordinance violations, actions brought pursuant to 750 ILCS or actions seeking equitable relief. A damages affidavit is attached to the initial pleading and a judgment above $50,000 on such a claim is reduced posttrial. Inside the tier, Rule 222(d) compels disclosure without any request, Rule 222(e) requires an affidavit that each disclosure is complete and correct as of its date, and Rule 222(f)(1) allows 30 interrogatories in the aggregate including subsections. Attorney review is available as an option.