Appellate Court of Illinois

Format

Type

Times New Roman 12 pt, double-spaced

Margins

Margins: top 1", right 1", bottom 1", left 1.5"

Opening brief

15,000 words or 50 pages

Reply brief

6,000 words or 20 pages

What counts

Pages or words; excludes cover, Points and Authorities (TOC), Rule 341(c) certificate, certificate of service, and Rule 342(a) appendix. Cross-appeal adds 30 pp / 9,000 words.

Rules

Illinois Supreme Court Rules (Article III) — Ill. S. Ct. R. 341(a); Ill. S. Ct. R. 341(b)

Parts of the brief, in order

1. Cover — Required · Ill. S. Ct. R. 341(d)
2. POINTS AND AUTHORITIES — Required · Ill. S. Ct. R. 341(h)(1)
3. NATURE OF THE CASE — Required · Ill. S. Ct. R. 341(h)(2)
4. ISSUES PRESENTED FOR REVIEW — Required · Ill. S. Ct. R. 341(h)(3)
5. JURISDICTION — Required · Ill. S. Ct. R. 341(h)(4)
6. STATUTES INVOLVED — If applicable · Ill. S. Ct. R. 341(h)(5)
7. STATEMENT OF FACTS — Required · Ill. S. Ct. R. 341(h)(6)
8. ARGUMENT — Required · Ill. S. Ct. R. 341(h)(7)
9. CONCLUSION — Required · Ill. S. Ct. R. 341(h)(8)
10. CERTIFICATE OF COMPLIANCE — Required · Ill. S. Ct. R. 341(c)
11. NOTICE OF FILING AND CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE — Required
12. APPENDIX — Required · Ill. S. Ct. R. 341(h)(9), 342

Argument headings: 'Points and Authorities' table lists argument headings with authorities cited under each and page numbers; argument cites authorities and record pages; points not argued are forfeited (341(h)(7)).

Standard of review: Concise statement of the applicable standard of review for each issue, with citation to authority, in the discussion of the issue or under a separate heading before it (341(h)(3)).

Record citations: Record page references, conventionally (C 12) common-law record, (R 34) report of proceedings, (E 5) exhibits, (A 7) appendix

Appendix

Required. Pages are numbered like A12. (Ill. S. Ct. R. 342(a))

• table of contents to the appendix
• judgment appealed from
• opinion, memorandum, or findings of fact
• pleadings/other record materials basis of the appeal
• notice of appeal
• complete table of contents of the record on appeal (with witness pages)

Appellant's brief only; may be filed as 'Separate Appendix' PDF if combined PDF would exceed 150 MB.

Certificates

• Compliance: 'I certify that this brief conforms to the requirements of Rules 341(a) and (b). The length of this brief, excluding [the excluded items], is ___ pages or words.' (exact exclusion wording per 341(c))
• Service: Certificate/proof of service

Good to know

• Appellee brief may omit items (2)-(6) and (9) unless appellant's presentation is unsatisfactory (341(i)); reply contains only Argument (341(j)).
• Footnotes discouraged; may be single-spaced; 12-pt minimum throughout, no condensed type.
• Cite Illinois cases after July 1, 2011 by public-domain citation with ¶ pinpoints (Rule 6).
• Reply word limit of 6,000 per the rule text read; confirm if amended.

Filing: eFileIL; electronically filed brief is the official original (341(e)).