Illinois Appellate Court Procedure: Preparing a Supporting Record

There are instances in which a party is required to compile a supporting record instead of relying on the circuit court to compile the record. Most of these instances occur when you are petitioning for leave to appeal to the appellate court. The Illinois Supreme Court rule regarding supporting records is rule 328. However, there is a little more involved than just following the language in rule 328. You should also refer to rule 324 which sets out how the circuit clerk should prepare and certify the record. Practitioners should look to this rule which sets out the form of the supporting record.

Three sections of the record
The supporting record should be arranged in three sections: the common law record, the report of proceedings and the trial exhibits. The common law record consists of the motions, pleadings orders and documents filed in the circuit court during the course of the litigation. The common law record and report of proceedings should be consecutively numbered beginning with the letter “C” and should be arranged into volumes of no more than 250 pages each. The trial exhibits do not need to be numbered as long as you provide a list of exhibit numbers.

Order of the documents
The supporting record should be organized in chronological order beginning with the oldest document. You should create a table of contents to the supporting record that identifies all the documents, their filing date and the page number upon which the document begins. We typically set up a master table of contents that identifies all the documents and where the volumes begin, and this table of contents is inserted into the beginning of each volume of the supporting record.

Authentication affidavit
An authentication affidavit from the attorney, who compiled the supporting record, should be drafted which identifies the following:

• The affiant is an attorney in good standing, licensed to practice law by the Supreme Court of Illinois;
• A statement that the documents contained in the supporting record are true and correct copies of the pleadings, orders and motions entered and filed below in the circuit court; and
• A statement that the record has been prepared and certified in the proper form and the number of volumes the supporting record consists of: the common law record, report of proceedings and exhibits.

This affidavit should be placed at the beginning of the first volume of the supporting record before the table of contents.

An original and three copies of the supporting record should be filed with the appellate court and one copy sent to each service party. This supporting record will accompany your filing to the appellate court.

How to get it done correctly the first time, every time?
Counsel Press can assist you with the preparation of any supporting record you may need to compile to accompany a petition for leave to appeal. We can assist with the compilation of the documents, numbering the documents, putting them in the proper form for the court and, ultimately, printing the paper copies.

Should you have any questions regarding the Illinois Appellate and Supreme Courts’ rules and procedures, please do not hesitate to contact me directly. My colleagues and I at Counsel Press’ office in Chicago specialize in the rule-compliant appellate filings in the Illinois Appellate Court (all districts), Illinois Supreme Court, United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit, United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit, United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit, Wisconsin Court of Appeals and Supreme Court and Indiana Court of Appeals and Supreme Court.

Tagged: Appellate Practice, Appellate Procedure, Supreme Court of Illinois, Production & Support