How to File a Counterclaim in Illinois Small Claims Court

A contractor sues you for $4,000 in unpaid work, but the work was defective and you paid $3,500 to fix it. Illinois small claims court lets you file a counterclaim for that repair cost in the same case under 735 ILCS 5/2-608, rather than starting a separate lawsuit.

When a Counterclaim Makes Sense

A counterclaim must arise from the same transaction or occurrence as the plaintiff's original lawsuit. If a contractor sues over a kitchen renovation and you claim the contractor damaged your flooring during the same job, that qualifies. If you have a separate, unrelated dispute with the same person, it needs its own case.

The counterclaim needs to be filed alongside your appearance or within whatever deadline the judge sets at the first hearing. Don't wait until the trial date to spring it — the court needs time to schedule the matter and the plaintiff needs fair notice.

Filing Fees and the $10,000 Ceiling

The counterclaim filing fee is the new-case filing fee for the amount you're claiming; small-claims appearance fees are $0 statewide, so none is subtracted. The DuPage County fee schedule revised August 11, 2026 lists a $300 fee for a counterclaim over $2,500 and up to $10,000.

Your counterclaim amount must not exceed the $10,000 small claims ceiling set by Supreme Court Rule 281. If your damages exceed $10,000, you can either limit the counterclaim to $10,000 (forfeiting the excess) or file the full amount — but the judge will transfer the entire case out of small claims and into the general civil division, where formal discovery and motion practice apply.

The Business Entity Trap

This catches defendants off guard more than anything else in Illinois small claims procedure. Under Supreme Court Rule 282(b), an LLC or corporation can defend itself in small claims court without a lawyer. But the moment that business entity files a counterclaim, it becomes an affirmative claimant — and must retain a licensed attorney.

The Illinois Supreme Court confirmed this in Downtown Disposal Services, Inc. v. City of Chicago (2012 IL 112040). A corporate or LLC defendant that files a counterclaim without an attorney risks having the counterclaim struck or dismissed entirely.

Sole proprietors are exempt from this rule because they're treated as natural persons for court representation purposes.

How to Prepare the Counterclaim

File the counterclaim through eFileIL using the standardized forms available from the Illinois Courts website. The filing should state the factual basis for your claim — what happened, when, and how much you're seeking — in plain language. Attach supporting documents: contracts, invoices, photos of defective work, repair estimates from a third party.

At the hearing, the judge handles both the plaintiff's claim and your counterclaim together. You'll present your counterclaim evidence after the plaintiff presents theirs, and the judge can award damages on both sides — netting one against the other.

The Illinois Small Claims Response Guide includes a counterclaim preparation worksheet that walks through the filing steps, fee calculation, and evidence organization for defendants who need to bring their own claim alongside their defense.

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