CBA Record

Y O U N G L A W Y E R S J O U R N A L

The Final Frontier of Trial Practice Arbitration Complication Trepidation Explication By Oliver Khan

O ne of the reasons for the creation of the Cook County Commercial Calendar’s mandatory arbitra- tion program, as Judge Thomas Mulroy describes, was to facilitate access to justice. The arbitration program creates a venue for litigants to have their claims heard quickly by experienced commercial litigators who sit as arbitrators. Judge Mulroy presides in the commer- cial calendar section of the Circuit Court

of Cook County and also runs the com- mercial calendar’s mandatory arbitration program. On September 22, 2016, the CBA held a seminar entitled “Arbitration and the Last Frontier of Trial Practice.”The speakers included Judge Mulroy, Nancy Hendrickson of the Hendrickson Law Firm, Gerald Saltarelli of Butler Rubin Saltarelli & Boyd LLP, and Nick Standi- ford of Schain, Banks, Kenny & Schwartz, Ltd. Hendrickson and Saltarelli both serve

as arbitrators in the program. Jonathan Amarilio of Taft Stettinius &Hollister LLP moderated. The following is a summary of rules governing the arbitration program, and the panel’s advice and wisdom. What Cases Go to Arbitration? Cases filed in the commercial calendar sec- tion of the LawDivision claiming damages less than $75,000 are subject to mandatory arbitration. Cook Cnty. R. 25.1. Where

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