Court & Hearings
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If you do not agree with the appellate court's decision, you can ask for a rehearing. To ask for a rehearing, you must file a petition with the appellate clerk. This petition should describe the errors you think the appellate court made.
There are rules you must follow when filing a petition for rehearing.
First, there is a strict time limit. The petition must be filed within 21 days after the appellate court its decision. The court will not give you more time unless you can show a very good reason.
Second, there are rules about the form of the petition. Your petition cannot be longer than 27 pages or 8,000 words. You also must attach a certificate of compliance to say you followed the rule. In addition, the cover of the petition must be on light green paper. Your petition and cover sheet should be bound together on the left side.
To fill out the Petition for Rehearing, you will need to provide information about:
- The appellate court case name, number, and location
- The trial court case name, number, and location
- The issues that you think the appellate court ignored or misunderstood in its original decision
You will have room to write an argument with 3 parts. Focus on the reasons you think the appellate court was wrong. Do not just re-state your original points.
To help you show where the court made errors, you can ask to check out the appellate record. You should contact the appellate clerk to do this. You should read through the record to see why the court was wrong. Then, you can use specific examples in your petition.
You can download a copy of the Petition for Rehearing and fill it out online or by hand. Make at least 5 copies of the completed petition.
After you finish filling out the Petition for Rehearing, you must send it to the other party. If any party has a lawyer, you must send your petition to the lawyer.
You can send the petition by mail or, if the other party has agreed, by email. If sending by mail, you must send 3 copies to each party. If sending by email, you only have to attach one copy.
Make sure to send the petition in the same way stated in the Proof of Service form for the document.
You must electronically file ("e-file") your Petition for Rehearing. Learn how to e-file.
If you are unable to e-file, you can ask the court for permission to file in person, by mail, or by third-party commercial carrier. To ask the court for approval to file this way, you can use the Appellate Motion form. You must have a good reason that prevents you from e-filing.
If you do not have access to a computer, or if you need additional help, you may take your petition to the appellate court clerk’s office, where you can use a public terminal to e-file your Petition. You can bring your Petition on a flash drive or on paper. The terminal will have a scanner and computer where you can scan, save, and e-file your Petition. To locate the clerk of the appellate court district where your appeal has been filed, visit the Illinois Courts website.
If you are an inmate in a prison or jail and don’t have a lawyer, you may file your petition by mail.
The appellate court may take some time to decide on your Petition for Rehearing. The court may ask you to appear for oral argument on the petition. But this is rare. You will likely hear from the court without any action on your part.
[no-lexicon]Petition[/no-lexicon] is granted
The appellate court will grant your petition if it sees that there are possible errors. This does not mean that the decision will be reversed.
Instead, both sides will have a chance to argue about the errors. The court will give the other side 21 days to file an answer to your petition. Then, you will have another 14 days to file a reply to that answer.
The court will then issue a new decision. Again, this does not guarantee a different result.
[no-lexicon]Petition[/no-lexicon] is denied
The appellate court will deny your petition if it does not see any errors. You then have 35 days to file a Petition for Leave to Appeal to the Illinois Supreme Court. Do not file this at the same time as a Petition for Rehearing. If you plan to file both, wait until the appellate court decides your Petition for Rehearing before filing the Petition for Leave to Appeal.
Worried about doing this on your own? You may be able to get free legal help.
