I know I complained a couple of days again about the difficulty in getting a file from the courthouse in Illinois. It turns out, however, that Peter Olson was right: at least I got the file I wanted.

Today I had the “pleasure” of retrieving a file from the clerk’s office in Cook County. When I got the file, I flipped through it looking for a couple of key documents: the Complaint and the Answer, both of which were filed in 2005.

I found lots of orders, and other miscellaneous documents, including the summons. Strangely, however, there was no complaint or answer? I could be wrong here, but I had always believed that the Complaint was the document that started the file making process in the clerk’s office. It appears that I am wrong.

On the bright side, I did find two documents from unrelated files that were included in my file. Maybe I should have checked those files for for the Complaint.

I have no doubt that efiling will not solve all of the problems in the court system. However, it would certainly go a long way toward doing so.