About the Program

Lake County developed a mediation program for civil cases that exceed the upper jurisdictional limits of the Mandatory Court-Annexed Arbitration Program, currently set at $50,000. Illinois Supreme Court Rule 99 and Chapter 7, Part 3 of the Local Court Rules govern the mediation program.

• Since the inception of the program, more than 600 cases have utilized mediation.
• Since the program began, 60% of all mediations have reached an agreement at the time of the mediation.
• Of the cases not resolved at the mediation conference, 76% reached a full settlement after the mediation and prior to the trial date.
• On average, a case sent to mediation is disposed within 4 months of the mediation conference, regardless of whether the parties were able to reach an acceptable agreement at the time of the mediation.