Hon. Stuart A. Nudelman, (Ret.)

Illinois

Hon. 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

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