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

Eighteenth Judicial Circuit
(DuPage County)

Arbitration Program Information

The Eighteenth Judicial Circuit is a suburban jurisdiction serving the residents of DuPage County. Court-annexed arbitration has become an important resource for assisting the judicial system in the adjudication of civil matters. The Supreme Court approved an arbitration program for the circuit in December 1988. During State Fiscal Year 2002, the Supreme Court authorized DuPage County's arbitration program to permanently operate at the $50,000 jurisdictional limit. A supervising judge oversees arbitration matters and is assisted by an arbitration program administrator and administrative assistant.

DATA PROFILES

DuPage County

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

Since State Fiscal Year 2001, cases referred to DuPage County's arbitration program have increased annually. From 2001 through 2005, an annual average of 3,964 cases have been referred to arbitration.

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 75% (5,485 of 7,290 cases were disposed) of the cases filed in the DuPage County arbitration program for State Fiscal Year 2005. This disposition rate is slightly lower than the five year average of 77% 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 DuPage County, less than 1% of cases (59 of the 7,290) filed in arbitration proceeded to trial.