# Illinois — Medical malpractice certificate/affidavit of merit requirements by US state — quoted from the state statute or court rule

For Illinois, document required is affidavit; filing deadline is attached to the original and all copies of the complaint; who must sign is the plaintiff's attorney or the plaintiff, if the plaintiff is proceeding pro se; consequence of non-compliance is grounds for dismissal under Section 2-619; statute or rule citation is 735 ILCS 5/2-622, recorded from its source on 2026-09-02.

- **State:** Illinois _(our reading, not quoted from the source)_
- **Document required:** affidavit _(verified: appears in its own passage below)_
- **Filing deadline:** attached to the original and all copies of the complaint _(verified: appears in its own passage below)_
- **Who must sign:** the plaintiff's attorney or the plaintiff, if the plaintiff is proceeding pro se _(verified: appears in its own passage below)_
- **Consequence of non-compliance:** grounds for dismissal under Section 2-619 _(verified: appears in its own passage below)_
- **Statute or rule citation:** 735 ILCS 5/2-622 _(our reading, not quoted from the source)_

## What the source says

> a health professional who the affiant reasonably believes: (i) is knowledgeable in the relevant issues involved in the particular action; (ii) practices or has practiced within the last 6 years or teaches or has taught within the last 6 years in the same area of health care or medicine that is at issue in the particular action; and (iii) is qualified by experience or demonstrated competence in the subject of the case;

## Where each value comes from

This source states these in separate places, so each value is shown with the passage that states it.

### Document required

> the plaintiff's attorney or the plaintiff, if the plaintiff is proceeding pro se, shall file an affidavit, attached to the original and all copies of the complaint, declaring one of the following:

### Filing deadline

> the plaintiff's attorney or the plaintiff, if the plaintiff is proceeding pro se, shall file an affidavit, attached to the original and all copies of the complaint, declaring one of the following:

### Who must sign

> the plaintiff's attorney or the plaintiff, if the plaintiff is proceeding pro se, shall file an affidavit, attached to the original and all copies of the complaint, declaring one of the following:

### Consequence of non-compliance

> The failure to file a certificate required by this Section shall be grounds for dismissal under Section 2-619.

## Source

- https://www.ilga.gov/legislation/ilcs/fulltext.asp?DocName=073500050K2-622

Last verified: 2026-09-02. Review by: 2027-09-02.
Part of [Medical malpractice certificate/affidavit of merit requirements by US state — quoted from the state statute or court rule](https://referencesource.org/medical-malpractice-certificate-of-merit-by-state/).