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Hon. Stuart E. Palmer (Ret.)

Hon. Stuart E. Palmer (Ret.)

ArbitratorNeutral EvaluatorHearing Officer
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General Biography
Practice Areas
Appellate
Business/Commercial
Class Actions
Cybersecurity & Privacy
Employment
Estates/Probate/Trusts
Insurance
Personal Injury/Torts
Professional Liability
Real Property
Honors, Memberships, and Professional Activities
Background and Education

Hon. Stuart E. Palmer (Ret.) joined JAMS in 2016 after a highly regarded 22-year career as a Justice of the Illinois Appellate Court and Judge of the Circuit Court of Cook County, Illinois. Throughout his judicial career, Justice Palmer presided over the trial and settlement of many of the most complex matters that came before the courts, including thousands of civil and criminal matters at all stages of litigation. As a chancery judge and an appellate justice, Palmer received consistent high praise for his handling of a wide variety of complex commercial disputes. 

While at JAMS, Justice Palmer has served as mediator, arbitrator and special master in a variety of disputes, including business/commercial, class action—particularly in the Biometric Information Privacy Act (BIPA) and Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) contexts—employment, trusts and estates, insurance and personal injury areas.

Justice Palmer has long been a proponent of pretrial settlement as well as arbitration in order to avoid the expense, delay and uncertainty of protracted litigation.

ADR Experience and Qualifications

Justice Palmer has been a full-time neutral with JAMS since 2016.  He carries a mediation certification from the National Judicial College (2006) and completed the USC-JAMS Arbitration Institute’s Advanced Arbitration Academy at the University of Southern California (2016).   

Representative Mediations

  • Professional liability matter involving allegations of accounting malpractice regarding Rule 1031 exchanges and ultimate tax liability 
  • A dispute over the sale of a multi-national restaurant chain bakery supply business
  • Several matters concerning the dissolution of real estate partnerships and LLCs
  • Several employment related matters including breach of restrictive covenants and violation of the Illinois Trade Secrets Act and the Federal Defend Trade Secrets Act, as well as wrongful discharge and related defamation, breach of contract, and wage payment claims
  • Class actions regarding the Biometric Information Privacy Act (BIPA) and the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA)
  • A class action on behalf of members of membership warehouse club
  • Several matters concerning breach of contract claims regarding large corporate software implementation
  • Third party liability for workplace injury
  • Fraudulent misrepresentation in the course of private lending
  • Attorney General initiated litigation regarding violations of the TCPA and the Illinois Consumer Fraud and Deceptive Practices Act
  • Asbestos related injury claims
  • Breach of contract claims brought by multi-national charity against printing company for loss of expected donations
  • Defamation claims brought by a noted professor against a major university
  • Product liability case involving a surgical instrument that allegedly failed causing injury to a patient
  • Claims of violation of the Illinois Securities Law and the Illinois Consumer Fraud and Deceptive Practices Act alleging the wrongful disclosure of information in the options market

Representative Arbitrations

  • Employment litigation involving allegations of violation of restrictive covenants and the Defend Trade Secrets Act
  • Living trust dispute among family members and related LLC dispute concerning a multi-million-dollar family business
  • Contractual dispute between franchisor and franchisee
  • Insurance coverage dispute between multiple insurers
  • Contractual dispute between corporation and health insurance provider
  • Personal injury action against recreational center
  • Claims of violation of state deceptive practices act and odometer fraud against automobile dealer
  • Contractual dispute between resident and residential care facility
  • Allegations of violations of the Telephone Consumer Protection Act during debt collection
  • Contractual dispute between nationwide hardware chain and a supplier
  • Dispute between doctors formerly of the same medical practice over compensation
  • Dispute between related condominium associations regarding pro rata share of assessments
  • Dispute between medical device supplier and medical device manufacturer regarding allegations of medical device failure causing injury and loss of inventory
  • Appeal of arbitration award before three arbitrator panel regarding claims by cardmember against credit card issuer for losses due to fraudulent charges
  • Several arbitrations brought by law firm for unpaid fees and expenses
  • Appointed by the Circuit Court as Special Investigator regarding shareholder derivative action

Honors, Memberships, and Professional Activities

Completed Virtual ADR training conducted by the JAMS Institute, the training arm of JAMS. 

  • Member, Character and Fitness Committee, Illinois Board of Bar Admissions
  • Member of the Board, Illinois Mandatory Continuing Legal Education Board
  • Member, Illinois Sentencing Policy Advisory Commission
  • Certificate of Completion, Advanced Arbitration Academy, University of Southern California-JAMS Arbitration Institute, August 2016
  • Certificate of Recognition by the Illinois Supreme Court for excellence in the delivery of judicial education programs
  • Recipient, Seymour Simon Justice Award, Jewish Judges Association of Illinois
  • Certificate of Appreciation, DePaul College of Law for contributions to the Lawyering Skills Program
  • Diploma of Judicial Skills, American Academy of Judicial Education
  • Member, Illinois Supreme Court:
    • Special Committee on Evidence
    • Committee on Education
    • Committee on Legislation
    • Special Committee on Courthouse and Judicial Security
    • Special Committee on Capital Cases
  • Member, Illinois Judicial Conference
  • Fellow, American Bar Foundation
  • Fellow and lecturer, ASTAR (Advanced Scientific and Technological Adjudication Resource Project), National Science and Technology Resource Judges Program funded by the U.S. Department of Justice
  • Frequent Judge for the Annual National Trial Competition and the National Criminal Justice Trial Advocacy Competition, ABA Criminal Justice Section
  • Member/Past Board member, Illinois Judges Association
  • Board member, Jewish Judges Association
  • Member, American Bar Association
  • Member, Illinois State Bar Association
  • Member, Chicago Bar Association
  • Member, Decalogue Society of Lawyers
  • Member, Chicago Inn of Court
  • Member, American College of Business Court Judges
  • Frequent faculty member, Illinois Judicial Conference seminars for judges, the biannual Education Conference, and the New Judge Seminar
  • Frequent lecturer at Chicago Bar Association, Decalogue Society and local law firm CLE presentations
  • Frequent Guest Lecturer, local area high school classes
  • Adjunct Lecturer, DePaul College of Law
  • Guest Lecturer, University of Chicago School of Law
  • Faculty, National Institute for Trial Advocacy
  • Chair and Editor, Illinois Judicial Benchbook on Criminal Law

Background and Education

  • Justice of the Illinois Appellate Court, First District, 2012-2016
  • Assigned to the Appellate Court by order of the Illinois Supreme Court
  • Presiding Justice, 5th Division, September 2014-September 2015
  • Judge, Circuit Court of Cook County, Illinois, 1994-2012
    • Chancery Division, 2005-2012
    • Criminal Division, 1994-2005
    • First Municipal District, 1994
  • Law Offices of Stuart E. Palmer, January 1993-January 1994
  • Hearing Officer, Illinois State Police Merit Board, October 1988-January 1994
  • Partner, Kanter & Mattenson, Ltd., April 1988-January 1993
  • Partner, Kulwin & Palmer, April 1987-April 1988
  • Assistant State's Attorney, Cook County State's Attorney's Office, November 1979-April 1987
  • J.D., Northwestern University School of Law, 1979
  • B.A., cum laude, Phi Beta Kappa, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, 1976

Disclaimer

This page is for general information purposes.  JAMS makes no representations or warranties regarding its accuracy or completeness.  Interested persons should conduct their own research regarding information on this website before deciding to use JAMS, including investigation and research of JAMS neutrals. See More

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