Illinois discovery deadlines: 28 days across the board, and a sworn denial or it's admitted

Illinois puts its discovery rules in the Supreme Court Rules rather than the Code of Civil Procedure, and it uses one period — 28 days — for all three written devices.

Twenty-eight days, three times

Interrogatories — Rule 213(d): "Within 28 days after service of the interrogatories upon the party to whom they are directed, the party shall serve a sworn answer or an objection to each interrogatory."

Document requests — Rule 214(a): 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, and the place and manner of making the inspection."

Note the difference in form. For interrogatories the 28 days is the deadline. For document requests it is a floor on the date the requesting party may specify — closer to Ohio's structure than to the federal fixed period.

Requests to admit — Rule 216(c): each matter of fact and the genuineness of each document "is admitted unless, within 28 days after service thereof, the party to whom the request is directed serves upon the party requesting the admission either (1) a sworn statement denying specifically the matters of which admission is requested [or an objection]."

The request to admit is the dangerous one

Illinois follows the automatic-admission model — silence admits, with no motion required, as under FRCP 36(a)(3), Ohio Civ.R. 36(A) and N.C. Rule 36(a).

But Illinois adds a requirement the others don't: the denial must be sworn. Rule 216(c) requires "a sworn statement denying specifically the matters of which admission is requested." An unsworn denial served on time is not the response the rule calls for.

Rule 216(a) allows a request for admission of fact; Rule 216(b) covers the genuineness of documents, and requires copies of the documents to be served with the request unless already furnished.

Thirty interrogatories, and leave requires the text

Rule 213(c) caps interrogatories, and the mechanism for exceeding the cap is unusually specific:

A motion for leave of court to serve more than 30 interrogatories must be in writing and shall set forth the proposed interrogatories and the reasons establishing good cause for their use.

You cannot ask for leave in the abstract. The proposed interrogatories go in the motion.

Rule 213(b) puts a duty on the attorney directing interrogatories, and Rule 213(a) requires a copy to be served on all parties entitled to notice.

Disclosure of witnesses is where Illinois is strictest

Rule 213(f) requires each party, on written interrogatory, to furnish the identities and addresses of witnesses who will testify at trial, in three categories — lay witnesses, independent expert witnesses, and controlled expert witnesses — with escalating disclosure requirements for each. Rule 213(g) then limits the testimony that may be given:

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.

Rule 213(i) imposes a continuing duty to supplement or amend prior answers whenever new or additional information becomes known.

That combination — mandatory categorised witness disclosure, a testimony limit tied to it, and a continuing duty — makes Rule 213(f) answers the single most consequential discovery document in an Illinois case.

Scope

Rule 201(b)(1) sets the general scope: full disclosure regarding any matter relevant to the subject matter involved in the pending action, whether it relates to the claim or defense of the party seeking disclosure or of any other party.

Rule 201(b)(2) protects privilege and work product, and Rule 201(b)(3) addresses consultants. Rule 201(k) — the meet-and-confer requirement — conditions the presentation of any discovery motion on the movant's reasonable attempt to resolve the dispute, with the motion stating what efforts were made.

Rule 201(k) compliance is a threshold requirement in Illinois practice, and motions are routinely denied without it.

Sanctions

Rule 219 supplies the consequences. Rule 219(a) covers a refusal to answer or comply, allowing the court to compel and to award expenses. Rule 219(b) addresses expenses on refusal to admit under Rule 216 — where a party fails to admit and the requesting party later proves the fact, the court may order payment of the reasonable expenses of making that proof.

Rule 219(c) is the sanctions ladder for unreasonable noncompliance: staying proceedings, barring witnesses, barring claims or defenses, striking pleadings, dismissing the action, entering default, and contempt — along with a mandatory provision that the order "shall require the offending party or his or her attorney to pay the reasonable expenses, including attorney fees, incurred as a result of the misconduct," unless the court finds the failure was substantially justified.

Rule 219(d) allows sanctions for abuse of discovery procedures.

How Illinois compares

A short checklist

1. Calendar 28 days for all three devices — and check the specified date on a Rule 214 request, which may be later.
2. Swear your answers and your denials. Rule 213(d) requires sworn answers; Rule 216(c) requires a sworn denial.
3. Count against 30, and if you need more, attach the proposed interrogatories to the motion.
4. Treat Rule 213(f) disclosures as trial preparation — Rule 213(g) limits direct examination to what you disclosed.
5. Supplement. Rule 213(i)'s duty is continuing.
6. Satisfy Rule 201(k) before any discovery motion, and say in the motion what you did.

Where these rules live

• Ill. S. Ct. R. 201 — General Discovery Provisions
• Ill. S. Ct. R. 213 — Written Interrogatories to Parties
• Ill. S. Ct. R. 214 — Discovery of Documents and Tangible Things
• Ill. S. Ct. R. 216 — Admission of Fact or of Genuineness of Documents
• Ill. S. Ct. R. 219 — Consequences of Refusal to Comply
• 735 ILCS 5/2-1005 — Summary Judgment

Circuit court local rules add case-management deadlines on top of these. This page explains what the rules say. It isn't legal advice.