Beginning on January 1, 2018 (though Dorothy Brown recently requested an extension on this date), all attorneys and litigants seeking to file documents or pleadings in Domestic Relations cases in Cook County will be required to use an online filing system instead of going to the court house and filing items by hand with the Clerk. This sounds like a convenient idea for a couple reasons. First, you will not have to leave the comfort of your ventilated desk area (or home) to file a document in extremely cold or warm weather. Second, you will not have to wait in line at the Clerk’s office (nor deal with the many personalities encountered during the filing process). However, with the new system in place, any document that was previously a no-fee filing will now incur a convenience charge. Additionally, with all the attorneys and litigants filing online there is a chance that the system could freeze and cause delays which is problematic especially when deadlines approach. Lastly, what happens to the pro se litigants who do not have a computer at home- how are they to file a document online? Rumors have it that they will have to make a trip downtown to the Daley Center 8th floor where computers will allegedly be provided for them.
Is this new system going to be a Holiday chill or a warm summer breeze?
The Capps Law Firm 