Illinois: “Mailbox Rule” Applies to Appeals From Commission to Circuit Courts

Reversing a decision of a state appellate court that had vacated the judgment of the circuit court as having been entered without subject matter jurisdiction because the claimant’s action for judicial review had been filed more than 20 days after the claimant's attorney received the Commission's decision, a divided Supreme Court of Illinois recently held that the “mailbox rule” applied to such appeals; it should be considered filed in the circuit court when placed in the mail, not when it was actually received by the court.  Accordingly, since all required documents were mailed to the clerk by the 20th day after receipt of the Commission’s decision by claimant’s attorney, jurisdiction vested with the circuit court.

Reported by Thomas A. Robinson, J.D.

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See Gruszeczka v. Illinois Workers’ Comp. Comm’n, 2013 IL 114212, 2013 Ill. LEXIS 849 (Aug. 1, 2013) [2013 Ill. LEXIS 849 (Aug. 1, 2013)]

See generally Larson’s Workers’ Compensation Law, § 124.08 [124.08]

Source: Larson’s Workers’ Compensation Law, the nation’s leading authority on workers’ compensation law.

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