Skip to Main Content

Court-Annexed Mandatory Arbitration Annual Report Fiscal Year 2005 - Twelfth Circuit | State of Illinois Office of the Illinois Courts

Twelfth Judicial Circuit
(Will County)

Arbitration Program Information

The Twelfth Judicial Circuit is one of only three single-county circuits in Illinois. The Will County Arbitration Center is housed near the courthouse in Joliet, Illinois. After the Supreme Court approved its request, Will County began hearing arbitration cases in December of 1995. An arbitration supervising judge is assigned to oversee arbitration matters and is assisted by a trial court administrator and an arbitration program assistant.


DATA PROFILES

Will County

Following are charts and diagrams which contain data from State Fiscal Year 2005.

State Fiscal Year 2005

Will County

At a Glance Arbitration Caseload Information

State of Illinois
At A Glance Arbitration Caseload Information

Number of Cases Pending / Referred to Arbitration  3,917                
Number of Cases Settled /Dismissed  2,913 
Number of Cases Pending  1,004
Number of Arbitration Hearings  184 
Number of Awards Accepted 57;
Number of Awards Rejected  77
Number of Cases Filed in Arbitration which Proceeded to Trial  27

* While only 8 hearings were conducted during this fiscal year, an award was posted from a hearing held in the last month of the previous fiscal year.

Chart shows cases referred to Will County's arbitration program vary annually, an average of 2,044 cases per year were referred to arbitration over the past five state fiscal years.

Since State Fiscal Year 2001, cases referred to Will County's arbitration program have increased annually. From 2001 through 2005, an annual average of 2,044 cases have been referred to arbitration.

Chart shows information regarding the total number of cases litigated in arbitration which yielded either a disposition or, ultimately went to trial.

The chart above presents information regarding the total number of cases litigated in arbitration which yielded either a disposition or, ultimately went to trial. Program data indicates that either a settlement or dismissal was reached in 74% (2,886 of 3,917 cases were disposed) of the cases filed in the Will County arbitration program for State Fiscal Year 2005. This disposition rate is slightly higher than the five year average of 71% and is less than the statewide average of 84%.

A more significant performance indicator for arbitration, however, is measuring the number of cases which, having completed the arbitration process, proceed to trial. In Will County, less than one percent of cases filed in arbitration proceeded to trial. This percentage is consistent with the average percent of cases which proceeded to trial over the past five state fiscal years.