Arbitration Hearing Dates

Arbitration hearing dates are assigned at a case management conference status date by the Supervising Judge of the Arbitration Program.

To view a list of available arbitration hearings dates, visit the Court Calendars page.

Prior to the Arbitration Hearing

Before an arbitration hearing can proceed, all parties must be served with a summons. The summons contains a return date. All parties must appear in Court on the return date. If any defendant wants to contest the claims made by the Plaintiff, the Defendant must file an appearance and an answer. For the appearance, a form is available in the Office of the Circuit Clerk and someone in the Clerk's Office will indicate the appropriate filing fee. For the answer, there is a form available in the Office of the Circuit Clerk. To complete an answer, the defendant must answer each allegation of the complaint, in writing. For example, if there are 6 paragraphs in the complaint, the answer must contain either an admission or denial (and reasons why that allegation is denied) of each paragraph contained in the complaint.

Motion Practice

All motions are to be heard by the Supervising Judge of court-annexed Mandatory Arbitration prior to the scheduled arbitration hearing date. Presently uncontested motions are heard at the Main Courthouse, Courtroom 304 on Mondays and Wednesdays at 1:30 p.m. or on Tuesdays at 9 a.m. Contested motions are set by the court. The location, time and Supervising Judge are subject to change.

The Arbitration He​aring

At the arbitration hearing, the parties present evidence on the issues in dispute which are those allegations in the complaint which the defendant has denied in the answer. The arbitrators hear all the facts, evidence, and law and render a written decision outside the presence of the parties. The arbitrators do not get involved in trying to settle the case, or helping the parties work out a payment plan in order to settle a case that is up to the parties to do prior to the arbitration hearing.

​Resources

Arbitration Question & Answer Booklet:
http://19thcircuitcourt.state.il.us/DocumentCenter/View/114/Lake-County-Arbitration-Question-and-Answer-Booklet-PDF?bidId=