Hon. Stuart A. Nudelman, (Ret.)
IllinoisHon. Stuart A. Nudelman, (Ret.) is a preeminent mediator and arbitrator known for his creative settlements involving emotionally charged, complex multi-party matters. He has extensive experience in resolving commercial, medical, legal, accounting and auditing malpractice, as well as nursing home, product liability, personal injury, employment and construction matters. In addition to experience garnered on the bench as a trial judge, he was often assigned cases from other court calls and judges’ calendars for settlement conferences and mediations. As a mediator, Judge Nudelman settled the largest embezzlement case in US history in a marathon 17-hour mediation.
Types of Cases Resolved
- Accounting Malpractice
- Auto Liability
- Class Action
- Condominium Board Dispute
- Construction
- Construction Accidents
- Construction Defect
- Contract
- Directors & Officers (D&O)
- Discrimination
- Employment
- Errors & Omissions (E&O)
- Estates
- Family Business
- Federal Employers Liability Act (FELA)
- Fiduciary Duty
- Franchise
- Fraud
- Harassment
- Insurance Coverage
- Legal Malpractice
- Mechanics Lien
- Medical Malpractice
- Multidistrict Litigation
- Non-Compete
- Nursing Home
- Partnership Dispute
- Personal Injury
- Premises Liability
- Probate
- Product Liability
- Professional Malpractice
- Property Damage
- Qui Tam
- Real Estate
- Retaliatory Discharge
- Securities
- Sexual Abuse
- Sexual Harassment
- Subrogation
- Trusts
- Whistleblower
- Wrongful Termination
ADR Experience and Qualifications
- Since joining ADR Systems in 2006, Judge Nudelman has served as a full-time mediator, arbitrator, tri-panel chair, special master, business trustee, and consultant in motion practice, witness presentations and case review
- 21-year judicial career in the Circuit Court of Cook County, including serving as Presiding Judge in the Second and Fourth Municipal Districts; Trial Judge in the Law Division and Commercial Calendar Call
- 13-year legal career, including working as Supervising Attorney, Vertical Representation Unit, Office of the Public Defender; Supervising Attorney, Murder Task Force, Office of the Public Defender; Trial Attorney 1972-1985
- Judicial Symposium on Critical Issues in Construction Defects Litigation, AEI Brookings Institute
- Mediation Certificate, Northwestern University
- Approved Mediator, Circuit Court of Cook County
Representative Cases
- Bankruptcy & Fiduciary Duty: settled a multi-day remote mediation with over 40 participants involving claims of fraud and breach of fiduciary duty, as well as a bankruptcy trustee who oversaw the liquidation of numerous assets
- Contract: claims of engineering and architectural defects in airport design
- Contract: as a judge, held that the theory of implied indemnity will not support a third-party action where the underlying lawsuit against the third-party plaintiff is grounded in breach of contract
- Contract: complex matter involving the question of a hospital’s obligation to treat indigent patients and what rates should be charged to uninsured patients, including application of the Illinois Consumer Fraud Act and Illinois Revenue Act
- Contract: arbitration of fiduciary duty and unfair completion issues
- Contract: arbitration involving corporate properties and corporate entities
- Contract: arbitrator in tri-panel arbitration involving patent issues
- Construction: defect and contract case with plaintiff seeking damages involving Chicago’s most expensive home at the time
- Construction: defect and contract cases involving condominium associations, single-family homes and condominiums
- Contract: dispute regarding sports conferences between a university and athletic association
- Contract: Magnuson Moss Act case determining commercial versus private vehicle coverage in warranty cases
- Directors & Officers (D&O): FDIC cases against national banking institutions; allegations of failed loans by directors and officers
- Employment: retaliatory discharge and the whistleblower statute
- Medical Malpractice: multiple parties and complex issues that involved C-section of mother, death of child, fetal monitoring strips and actions of hospital staff and medical personnel
- Partnership Dispute: partnership dissolution with a dispute over the pension and other retirement benefits
- Personal Injury: passenger and flight attendant confrontation as related to possible security concerns
Professional Activities and Awards
- Former Member, Complex Litigation Committee of the Supreme Court
- Former President, Illinois Judges Association; Board Member
- Former Faculty, Judicial Conference, Judging in the 21st Century, a course on ethics and morals in our changing society
- Former Judicial Mentor Training Chair, Circuit Court of Cook County
- Former Member, Executive Committee of the Supreme Court of Illinois
- Former Adjunct Professor of Law, Loyola University Chicago School of Law
- Facilitator, Supreme Court Special Committee on Professionalism
- Lifetime Achievement Award, Decalogue Society of Lawyers
- Judge of the Year Award, American Board of Trial Advocates
- Lifetime Achievement Award, Illinois Judges Association
- 25th Anniversary Award, Public Interest Law Society
- Scales of Justice Award, Rainbow/PUSH
- Domestic Violence Service Award, LifeSpan
- Community Court Service Award, NAACP
- Domestic Violence Award, National Organization of Women
- Man of the Year Award, Arab American Bar Association
- Named in Leading Lawyers’ Top 10 for ADR
Presentations and Publications
- Presenter, Trial Advocacy Program, Hinshaw & Culbertson
- Presenter, Motion Practice, Commercial Litigation and Civil Practice; Pre-trial and Motion Practice, Chicago Bar Association
- Presenter, Mediation Techniques, West Suburban Bar Association
- Presenter, “Mediating the High-Profile Case,” American Bar Association (ABA) Spring Forum on Alternative Dispute Resolution
- Presenter, Civil Jury Trials, Northwest Bar Association
- Presenter, numerous Continuing Legal Education (CLE) programs for ADR Systems on various topics
- Co-Author (with Jann Johnson, Esq.), “Premediation Preparation: A Key Component to Successful Dispute Resolution,” The Brief, Tort Trial & Insurance Practice Section, ABA
- Co-Author, (with Jann Johnson, Esq.), “Realizing the Potential Cost-Savings of Arbitration: It’s in the Process,” Law Bulletin Publishing Company
Education
- JD, Chicago-Kent College of Law
- BS, University of Illinois, Chicago
Admissions
- Illinois State Bar
Disclosure
I have been a practicing attorney since 1972, was elected to the Cook County Circuit Court in 1985 and went into the private practice of mediation and arbitration in 2006. Many attorneys have tried cases in my courtrooms or mediated or arbitrated a case with me.
Additionally, I have one family member working at Kirkland & Ellis, LLP in Chicago.
The disclosures listed above will not affect my neutrality in this dispute.
