When should an Illinois Section 2-615 motion attack the complaint?

Identify the complaint and the particular pleading defects the motion addresses.

Establish the applicable summons, effective service and actual response directions.

Distinguish a complaint attack from a motion against another pleading under Rule 182(c).

1. Identify the complaint and the particular pleading defects the motion addresses.
2. Establish the applicable summons, effective service and actual response directions.
3. Distinguish a complaint attack from a motion against another pleading under Rule 182(c).
4. The applicable response rule and actual orders supply timing. In Rule 181(a)’s ordinary branch, filing a motion within the appearance period leads to an answer or further appropriate motion within the time directed in the disposition order. Section 2-615(d) separately permits pleading-over, amendment or termination orders.
5. File a motion specifying the pleading defects and requested relief. Preserve service, proof and the order disposing of the motion; follow any permitted or required amendment.

This procedure does not supply one computed date. Establish each required event, selected date or filing sequence before applying any separately governing counting and closed-day provisions.

Fictitious comparison. A timely motion is disposed of with an order allowing an amended complaint and directing further pleading. The original service date alone cannot identify the date set by that later order.

The complaint’s actual response procedure controls. Section 2-615 has no fixed thirty-day period, and the historical preset does not classify summons forms or read orders.

The complaint differs from other pleadings

Rule 182(c)’s twenty-one-day period addresses pleadings other than the complaint. Do not apply it to this complaint-response question.

The motion must identify the defect

Section 2-615(a) and (b) require specific defects and appropriate relief; a substantially insufficient pleading must be identified with the reasons for insufficiency.

A disposition can require further pleading

Section 2-615(d) permits appropriate orders requiring or allowing amendment or pleading over, or ending the litigation in whole or part. Preserve the actual order.

Court-granted time differs from a request

Rule 183 allows good-cause relief on motion after notice to the opposite party, before or after expiration. Preserve the actual ruling. Filing a request does not itself establish an extended deadline.

• This source guide does not compute a date or decide whether the required facts and filings are established.
• Preserve the applicable edition, actual documents and court orders. A different procedural branch requires its own review.

• Identify the complaint and the particular pleading defects the motion addresses.
• Establish the applicable summons, effective service and actual response directions.
• Distinguish a complaint attack from a motion against another pleading under Rule 182(c).
• Rule 182(c)’s twenty-one-day period addresses pleadings other than the complaint. Do not apply it to this complaint-response question.
• Section 2-615(a) and (b) require specific defects and appropriate relief; a substantially insufficient pleading must be identified with the reasons for insufficiency.
• Section 2-615(d) permits appropriate orders requiring or allowing amendment or pleading over, or ending the litigation in whole or part. Preserve the actual order.
• Rule 183 allows good-cause relief on motion after notice to the opposite party, before or after expiration. Preserve the actual ruling. Filing a request does not itself establish an extended deadline.
• File a motion specifying the pleading defects and requested relief. Preserve service, proof and the order disposing of the motion; follow any permitted or required amendment. File with the proper clerk in the required format. Rule 9 ordinarily requires civil electronic filing, subject to its exceptions and exemptions. Rule 9(f) ordinarily requires submission before midnight in the court time zone unless a statute, rule or actual order specifies a different time. A submission on a closed clerk day ordinarily receives the next open-day stamp. Preserve the actual electronic file mark, receipt and any filing-relief order. Filing and service are distinct acts.