Illinois requests to admit: 28 days, a sworn denial, and a warning that must be on the first page

Illinois Rule 216 is the most formalised request-to-admit procedure in the country, and the formality runs in both directions.

The responding party must serve a sworn denial within 28 days or the facts are admitted. But the requesting party has to package the request in a very specific way, and a request that ignores those requirements is vulnerable.

The 28 days, and what a response must look like

Ill. S. Ct. R. 216(c):

Admission in the Absence of Denial. Each of the matters of fact and the genuineness of each document of which admission is requested is admitted unless, within 28 days after service thereof, the party to whom the request is directed serves upon the party requesting the admission either (1) a sworn statement denying specifically the matters of which admission is requested or setting forth in detail the reasons why the party cannot truthfully admit or deny those matters or (2) written objections on the ground that some or all of the requested admissions are privileged or irrelevant or that the request is otherwise improper in whole or in part. If written objections to a part of the request are made, the remainder of the request shall be answered within the period designated in the request. A denial shall fairly meet the substance of the requested admission. If good faith requires that a party deny only a part, or requires qualification, of a matter of which an admission is requested, the party shall specify so much of it as is true and deny only the remainder. Any objection to a request or to an answer shall be heard by the court upon prompt notice and motion of the party making the request. The response to the request, sworn statement of denial, or written objection, shall be served on all parties entitled to notice.

Several rules are packed into that paragraph.

The denial must be sworn. An attorney's unsworn response does not stop the deeming provision.

Objections are a separate, narrower category — privilege, irrelevance, or that the request is otherwise improper — and they are written objections, not sworn.

Objecting to part does not excuse the rest. The remainder must be answered within the period the request designates.

Denials must fairly meet the substance, and a partial truth must be admitted in part and denied as to the remainder.

Everything goes to all parties entitled to notice, not only to the requesting party.

The packaging requirements

Rule 216(g) is unusual, and it is the requesting party's obligation:

Special Requirements. A party must: (1) prepare a separate document which contains only the requests and the documents required for genuine document requests; (2) serve this document separate from other documents; and (3) put the following warning in a prominent place on the first page in 12-point or larger boldface type: "WARNING: If you fail to serve the response required by Rule 216 within 28 days after you are served with this document, all the facts set forth in the requests will be deemed true and all the documents described in the requests will be deemed genuine."

Three requirements, all mandatory:

• a separate document containing only the requests and any documents needed for genuineness requests;
• served separately from other discovery; and
• the prescribed warning, verbatim, in a prominent place on the first page, in 12-point or larger boldface.

Illinois requires the warning precisely because the consequence is so severe. If you are on the receiving end of requests buried inside a larger discovery package, or without the warning, that is the first thing to look at.

Thirty requests

Rule 216(f):

Number of Requests. The maximum number of requests for admission a party may serve on another party is 30, unless a higher number is agreed to by the parties or ordered by the court for good cause shown. If a request has subparts, each subpart counts as a separate request.

Thirty, subparts counted separately — and note that Illinois counts each subpart, without the "discrete" qualifier some states use.

What can be asked

Rule 216(a) covers facts: "A party may serve on any other party a written request for the admission by the latter of the truth of any specified relevant fact set forth in the request. A copy of the request for admission shall be served on all parties entitled to notice."

Rule 216(b) covers documents, and requires you to supply them: "Copies of the documents shall be served with the request unless copies have already been furnished."

Public records

Rule 216(d) is a distinct device many practitioners never use:

Public Records. If any public records are to be used as evidence, the party intending to use them may prepare a copy of them insofar as they are to be used, and may seasonably present the copy to the adverse party by notice in writing, and the copy shall thereupon be admissible in evidence as admitted facts in the case if otherwise admissible, except insofar as its inaccuracy is pointed out under oath by the adverse party in an affidavit filed and served within 28 days after service of the notice.

Serve a copy of the public record with a written notice, and it becomes admissible as admitted fact unless the other side files a sworn affidavit pointing out the inaccuracy within 28 days.

The effect of an admission

Rule 216(e):

Effect of Admission. Any admission made by a party pursuant to request under this rule is for the purpose of the pending action and any action commenced pursuant to the authority of section 13-217 of the Code of Civil Procedure (735 ILCS 5/13-217) only. It does not constitute an admission by him for any other purpose and may not be used against him in any other proceeding.

Note the extension: the admission carries over into a refiled action under 735 ILCS 5/13-217, which is Illinois's refiling provision. That is broader than the pending-action-only limit most states apply.

How Illinois compares

A short checklist

1. Diarise 28 days the day the requests arrive.
2. Check the packaging. A separate document, served separately, with the prescribed 12-point boldface warning on the first page.
3. Swear the denial. An unsworn response does not stop the deeming provision.
4. Deny specifically and fairly meet the substance; admit the true part and deny the remainder.
5. If you object to part, answer the rest within the designated period.
6. Serve the response on all parties entitled to notice, not just the requester.
7. If you are serving, count subparts — each one is a separate request against the thirty.
8. Supply copies of documents whose genuineness you want admitted, unless already furnished.
9. Consider Rule 216(d) for public records — it is quicker than proving them up.
10. Remember an admission follows a refiling under 13-217, so treat it as binding beyond the current case number.

Where these rules live

• Ill. S. Ct. R. 201 — General Discovery Provisions
• Ill. S. Ct. R. 213 — Written Interrogatories to Parties
• Ill. S. Ct. R. 214 — Discovery of Documents, Objects, and Tangible Things
• Ill. S. Ct. R. 216 — Admission of Fact or of Genuineness of Documents
• Ill. S. Ct. R. 219 — Consequences of Refusal to Comply
• 735 ILCS 5/13-217 — Reversal or dismissal

This page explains what the rules say. It isn't legal advice, and the consequences of a request that fails to comply with Rule 216(g) are developed in case law this site doesn't cover.