News

Illinois Supreme Court M.R. 31228

Kluever Law Group, LLC Update on

New Illinois Supreme Court Guidelines for Case Completions in Illinois

 

September 9, 2022

 

With little announcement, on March 25, 2022, the Illinois Supreme Court entered Order M.R. 31228, setting time standards for case closures (i.e., the time to fully resolve a case) in all cases in the Illinois trial courts. See attached Order. The time standards represent the time during which the court exercises control over and is accountable for the progress and timely closure of a case. “Implementing time standards establishes a statewide expectation for judges, litigants, and attorneys. These time standards require each court to evaluate its actual performance compared to a statewide expectation.” Order M.R. 31228. These guidelines became effective July 1, 2022, and the Illinois Supreme Court established these guidelines for all cases and all judges across Illinois with minimal guidance, giving each individual judge the freedom to craft their own plan, which we have seen at least one foreclosure judge in Cook County implement.

Based on these guidelines, most foreclosure cases in Illinois should be completed within 3 years from the date of filing the complaint to the final order approving sale or other final order. The guidelines do take into account that there will be outlier cases that are not completed within 3 years, and also many cases that will be disposed of before 3 years.

To comply with this 3-year time standard, at least one foreclosure judge in Cook County has implemented a new standing order and a new case management order with strict discovery deadlines to be entered in every case moving forward, and it is likely that more judges will follow suit. Our firm is dedicated to staying up to date on all changes and committed to continuing to move cases as efficiently as possible to comply with these new guidelines and any future requirements other judges adopt in light of the guidelines.

Please reach out to us with any questions or concerns, or to further discuss the impact of these new timing requirements for foreclosure cases in Illinois.