Legal Question in Civil Litigation in Illinois

Re: Arbitration

If this case is pending in the Municipal Division in Cook County, then any party can reject an award. All that is required is to pay the fee. Under certain circumstances, you can prevent the other party from rejecting the award (usually for not participating in the hearing). This requires a motion to be filed before 30 days after arbitration.

If this is not your circumstance, the other side can proceed to trial, at their choosing. It would be a good opprtunity to press for a settlement at this time. It may be that the attorney for the defendant feels that since you are not represented, you will not know how to proceed with trial, and you will give up. (Preparing a case for trial requires some involved legal knowledge).

If you wish to discuss your situation in depth, feel free to contact me, at no charge.

Re: Arbitration

Unless the defendant did not appear at the arbitration or they failed to participate in good faith, there is no way to prevent the rejection if the rejection is filed within 30 days of the arbitration and the fee has been paid.

The defendant is probably thinking that for $200 (the rejection fee) they will be able to win the case because you are not familiar with how to get a case ready for trial and so you will lose on technicality.

That is a very real possibility. At this point you should speak to an attorney and see what it will cost you and then do a cost/benefit analysis to see whether it is worth continuing with the suit.

Not a good position to be in unfortunately.

I hope this helps,

Taradji Law Offices