JUSTICE BILL TAYLOR (ret.)

Justice Bill Taylor (retired) will bring over twenty years of experience as a Cook County Circuit Court trial judge as well as an Illinois Appellate Court justice to your cases. From simple to extremely complex, Justice Taylor will work with you and your client to realize the strengths and weaknesses of your cases before proceeding with costly litigation. His experience will help the parties reach a fair and reasonable agreement. His legal experiences prior to joining the court add to his broad knowledge of the legal system and give him a unique perspective to mediate your cases.

Law degree from Northwestern University
Insurance litigator for Peterson Ross representing Lloyds of London
Business litigator at Sachnoff Weaver (now Reed Smith)
Deputy tax litigator with Illinois Attorney General where he supervised 30 attorneys

Justice Taylor's experiences while on the bench further solidified the legal knowledge and skills that will serve you.

Worked as trial judge in Law Division for personal injury and commercial litigation cases. Over 90% of his cases settled in chambers before trial or during trial.
Taught pre-trial settlement techniques at judicial seminars for all Illinois judges. He will bring this expertise in settlement to work for you.
Appointed to the Judicial Evaluation Committee by the Illinois Supreme Court (chairman for two years). This committee was established to evaluate how judges handled their cases and conducted their courtrooms. Its goal was to improve judges' procedures and their case flow. This knowledge will assist in expediting your litigation.
Served as acting presiding judge of Law Division as needed.
Appointed as Special Master to distribute a $20 million settlement fund. He was required to determine damages to 376 plaintiffs with over 15 law firms. His decision was unanimously approved by the attorneys and the court.

By drawing on these rich experiences, Justice Taylor will work diligently in achieving a mediation session that all parties will agree was a worthwhile and successful endeavor.

Bill Taylor

Maddux

JUDGE WILLIAM MADDUX (ret.)

Judge William Maddux (retired) served as the presiding judge of the Law Division for Cook County (Chicago, IL) for thirteen years. Prior to his appointment he was one of a very select group of Law Division trial judges, who managed cases from the filing of a case through a jury trial. His expertise will be invaluable for your clients to achieve a settlement in an expedited schedule. Judge Maddux has 56 years of high quality legal expertise.

B.A. in philosophy Notre Dame University,1957
J.D. Georgetown University, 1959
Associate, then Partner at Kirkland & Ellis, 1959 to 1975
William Maddux and Associates, Ltd. ( now Johnson & Bell, Ltd. ) 1975 to 1991
Judge Maddux has handled a wide range of cases over his 56 years in practice
As a litigator he has tried over 250 cases to a jury verdict.
He was appointed by the Illinois Supreme court to serve on the committee on Alternative Dispute Resolution
He has also settled thousands of cases as the Presiding Judge of the law division

Also as the presiding judge, he was instrumental in reducing the time that a case went to trial from 6 years to under three years. He understands that clients want an effective way to settle their differences.

Judge Maddux is able to handle the most complex litigation with ease.

He settled the 69 W. Washington fire case for 100 million dollars.

Whatever issues you may present Judge Maddux will be able to draw on his unique life experiences to assist you and your client in realizing the potential gains and pitfalls of your case and help you reach a fair and just settlement.

JUDGE DAVID DONNERSBERGER (ret.)

Judge David Donnersberger (retired)

brings more than 40 years of legal and judicial experience to his mediation/arbitration practice. He is greatly respected by both the defense and plaintiff bars for his good temperament, intelligence, and his ability to bring parties together. While on the bench he was noted for his unbiased approach in assisting attorneys in successfully resolving emotionally and legally complex matters.

As a Chancery Circuit judge Donnersberger managed, tried, and mediated matters as complex as billion dollar family trusts, class action consumer cases and business dissolution.
As the General Counsel for the Chicago Park District he was the client negotiator in the resolution of sexual predator cases, employment discharge cases, pool and beach swimming death cases.
Judge Donnersberger’s (Ret.) tenure as the General Counsel for the Chicago Park District allowed him to work with parties in a vast variety of settings including business, commercial, employment, and government.
As General Counsel and First deputy General Counsel for the Chicago Park District supervised many successful personal injury, labor, workers compensation, and construction trials
As a Neutral mediated more than one hundred personal injury, insurance and legal malpractice matters.
As a Hearing Officer he determined insurance issues involving interpretation of Illinois Statues regarding Police and Firefighters benefits as emergency responders.

Donnersberger

JUSTICE BILL TAYLOR (ret.)

Law degree from Northwestern University

Insurance litigator for Peterson Ross representing Lloyds of London

Business litigator at Sachnoff Weaver (now Reed Smith)

Deputy tax litigator with Illinois Attorney General where he supervised 30 attorneys

Worked as trial judge in Law Division for personal injury and commercial litigation cases. Over 90% of his cases settled in chambers before trial or during trial.

Taught pre-trial settlement techniques at judicial seminars for all Illinois judges. He will bring this expertise in settlement to work for you.

Served as acting presiding judge of Law Division as needed.

JUDGE WILLIAM MADDUX (ret.)

JUDGE DAVID DONNERSBERGER (ret.)

Judge David Donnersberger (retired)

As a Chancery Circuit judge Donnersberger managed, tried, and mediated matters as complex as billion dollar family trusts, class action consumer cases and business dissolution.

As the General Counsel for the Chicago Park District he was the client negotiator in the resolution of sexual predator cases, employment discharge cases, pool and beach swimming death cases.

Judge Donnersberger’s (Ret.) tenure as the General Counsel for the Chicago Park District allowed him to work with parties in a vast variety of settings including business, commercial, employment, and government.

As General Counsel and First deputy General Counsel for the Chicago Park District supervised many successful personal injury, labor, workers compensation, and construction trials

As a Neutral mediated more than one hundred personal injury, insurance and legal malpractice matters.

As a Hearing Officer he determined insurance issues involving interpretation of Illinois Statues regarding Police and Firefighters benefits as emergency responders.