Rule Text
(a) Except as provided in paragraph (b), the time of filing records, briefs or other documents required to be filed within a specified time will be the date on which they are actually received by the clerk of the reviewing court.
(b) If received after the due date, the time of mailing, or the time of delivery to a third-party commercial carrier for delivery to the clerk within three business days, for any filing excepted from electronic filing under Rule 9(c) or exempt from electronic filing under Rule 9(d) shall be deemed the time of filing. Proof of mailing, or delivery to a third-party commercial carrier, shall be as provided in Rule 12(b).
(c) This rule also applies to a motion directed against the judgment and to the notice of appeal filed in the trial court.
Amendment history: Amended January 5, 1981, effective February 1, 1981; amended July 1, 1985, effective August 1, 1985; amended December 17, 1993, effective February 1, 1994; amended December 29, 2009, effective immediately; amended September 19, 2014, eff. immediately; amended Oct. 6, 2016, eff. Nov. 1, 2016; amended June 22, 2017, eff. July 1, 2017; amended Jan. 31, 2024, eff. Feb. 1, 2024; amended Nov. 13, 2025, eff. Aug. 11, 2025, nunc pro tunc.
Plain-English Summary (for reference only — not a substitute for the rule text above)
This summary is not the rule. The rule text controls.
When you file papers with an appeals court, the court uses the date it actually receives them as your filing date. This matters because courts have strict deadlines, and missing them can hurt your case.
There is one exception for paper filings that are mailed or sent by a delivery service. If your document arrives late but you mailed it or handed it to a carrier like FedEx or UPS before the deadline, the court will use the date you mailed or dropped it off as your filing date. The carrier must deliver it within three business days. You will need proof that you sent it on time, like a receipt or postmark.
These same rules apply when you file a notice of appeal or a motion challenging a judgment in the trial court, not just when filing in the appeals court.
Committee Notes
(Revised July 1, 1985) Rule 373 was new in 1967. It was designed to make it unnecessary for counsel to make sure that briefs and other papers mailed before the filing date actually reach the reviewing court within the time limit. Receipt of the paper in the clerk’s office a day or two later will not delay the appeal. As originally adopted the rule provided that the time of mailing might be evidenced by the post mark affixed by a United States Post Office. Because of problems with the legibility of post marks, and delay in affixing them in some cases, the rule was amended in 1981 to provide for the use of affidavits of mailing or United States Postal Service certificates of mailing. The 1985 amendment regarding the recording of a filing date was intended to simplify record keeping in the appellate and supreme courts.
(December 17, 1993) The rule is revised to make the method of proof of mailing consistent with practice under Rule 12. Reference to the notice of appeal coming within the scope of the rule is a reflection of existing law (see Harrisburg-Raleigh Airport Authority v. Department of Revenue (1989), 126 Ill. 2d 326).
(December 29, 2009) The rules on service and filing have been revised to provide for sending documents via third- party commercial carrier. Under these rules, the term “delivery” refers to all the carrier’s standard pick-up methods, such as dropping a package in a UPS or FedEx box or with a UPS or FedEx contractor.
