A lawsuit begins when a person or company files a Summons and a Complaint (or Petition). The person or company that filed the lawsuit is called the plaintiff or petitioner. If a lawsuit is filed against you, you are the defendant or respondent.

The Summons lets you know that a lawsuit has been brought against you. The Summons also lets you know what you must do to respond.

The Complaint or Petition tells you what the lawsuit is about. It also tells you:

• What the plaintiff thinks happened,
• The laws that support the plaintiff's claims, and
• What the plaintiff is asking for.

[no-lexicon]Appearance and Answer[/no-lexicon]

If you are properly served with a Summons, you can file an Appearance and an Answer to protect your rights. However, you will not go to jail or get fines if you do not respond.

An Appearance tells the court and the plaintiff that you know about the lawsuit filed against you. It is a formal statement that you are going to participate in the court proceedings. Appearances can be held in person or remotely. However, in many cases, the appearance is a document that gets filed and then the court date happens later on. 

An Answer responds to the plaintiff's Complaint. The Complaint lists the plaintiff's reasons for suing you. The Answer responds to each reason.

You do not have to file an Answer unless the judge tells you to if:

• The lawsuit is for $10,000 or less, or
• You are a defendant in an eviction case.

If you are required to file an Answer, and you do not, the judge will find you in default and may decide in favor of the other party.

Fill out your Answer and Appearance.

Rules for Answers

In your Answer, you must respond to each numbered statement in the Complaint. You must:

• Admit: agree with the statement,
• Deny: disagree with the statement, or
• Lack the knowledge required to admit or deny: don't know if it's true

If you pick the last option, you must also attach an Affidavit saying that you do not know if the statements indicated are true.

You do not have to give only one response for each numbered paragraph in the plaintiff's Complaint. You can admit to parts of the paragraph and deny others.

Note: If you want to challenge the way you received the Summons and Complaint or if you want to dismiss the Complaint because the lawsuit does not have legal basis, you need to file a Motion before you file your Answer. For more information see the Motions section below. 

Defenses

The Answer is also the document where you can argue affirmative defenses. An affirmative defense is an argument that you make that is a reason the plaintiff should not win the case.

For example, a person has a certain amount of time after something happens to file a lawsuit. This is called a statute of limitations. If the plaintiff files a lawsuit after the statute of limitations ran out for their case, you would include this in your Answer as an affirmative defense.

If you file your Answer without affirmative defenses, you can't make them later.

Counterclaims

The Answer is also where you include any counterclaims. Counterclaims are legal claims that you have against the plaintiff about the issues in the case.

For example, say someone sues you for damage to their car from an accident you were in. You could file a counterclaim against them if you think that they were at fault and owe you money instead.

Service

After you e-file your Answer and Appearance, you must serve the documents on the plaintiff. This means sending them a copy. If the plaintiff has a lawyer, you must serve the lawyer instead. Service is usually required to be done electronically by:

• Using an e-filing system, or
• By email.

If the plaintiff doesn't have an attorney or an email address, you can also send the documents by mail, or hand deliver them.

After you serve the documents, you must file a Proof of Delivery with the circuit clerk.

Motions

Sometimes a defendant will want to file a Motion before filing an Answer.

For example, if you have a legal reason to challenge the way the Summons and Complaint were delivered to you, you would file a Motion to Quash Service.

Or if you had a legal reason to have the Complaint dismissed, you would file a Motion to Dismiss.

Going to court

A Summons will usually tell you when you need to come to court. It will be called an "appearance filing date" or "return date." If you do not appear in court on time, you will lose the case, and a default judgment may be entered against you. 

If you go to court, the judge will tell you when you need to file your Answer. It will usually be 10 days from your court date.

In lawsuits for more than $50,000, the Summons will state that you must file an appearance within 30 days after the day you are served. After you file your Appearance, you will then need to file an Answer. You may want to talk to a lawyer before filing.  

Also note that for lawsuits less than $50,000, the Summons now requires appearance remotely or in person within 40-61 days after it is issued.

If you have a disability and would like to request a reasonable accommodation to ensure you can participate, contact your circuit clerk. 

Requesting a jury [no-lexicon]trial[/no-lexicon]

There are 2 ways to have a civil trial:  

• Bench trial: the judge decides what they think happened, and then they decide who wins the trial based on the law. 
• Jury trial: a jury decides what happened, and then the judge decides who wins.

If you want a jury trial, you have to ask for one. You should do this the first time you file something with the clerk.

In lawsuits for more than $10,000, you must ask for a jury no later than the date that you file your Answer.  In lawsuits for $10,000 or less, you must ask for a jury trial on or before your initial court date.

You can use the jury demand that is included in the Appearance form or the separate jury demand form.  If you file your request for a jury trial by these deadlines, then the judge must grant you a jury trial.

Illinois requires e-filing of all court documents. When you e-file your Appearance, select the jury demand option.  Or, if the lawsuit is for more than $10,000, you can e-file a separate jury demand form before or when you e-file your Answer.

You must pay an extra fee for a jury trial. If you can't pay it, you can ask for a fee waiver. 

[no-lexicon]If a default judgment is entered against you[/no-lexicon]

If you file your Appearance or Answer late, it is likely that a default judgment will be entered against you. That means that the judge let the plaintiff win the case because you were not there.  

If the judge enters a default judgment against you, you can ask them to take it back by filing a Motion to Vacate Default Judgment. 

You have 30 days to file this motion and show the judge that you had a good reason for not filing. After 30 days, it is much harder to remove the judgment, and you will probably need to talk to a lawyer.