Hon. Moshe Jacobius (Ret.) has a stellar reputation as an attorney and a jurist.  Judge Jacobius served as an Illinois Assistant Attorney General for 17 years, rising to lead the Worker’s Compensation Division and General Law (Civil Litigation) Division under two Attorneys General.  Judge Jacobius served as a Cook County, Illinois, jurist for 31 years.  He served as a family law judge for twenty years, including ten years as Presiding Judge of the Domestic Relations Division, hearing virtually all issues involving divorce, parentage, and domestic violence matters.  Thereafter, Judge Jacobius served for ten years as Presiding Judge of the Chancery Division and presided over cases involving public governance issues, injunctions, class actions, declaratory judgments, real estate, contract matters, corporate and LLC litigation and dissolutions of partnerships and corporations, creditors’ rights, liens, constructions of wills and trusts, mortgage foreclosures, mechanic’s liens, trusteeships, receiverships, and statutory and administrative reviews.

ADR Experience and Qualifications

• Conducted scores of settlement conferences while on the bench in domestic relations and chancery cases in the areas set forth above.
• As a mediator and arbitrator, handling divorce matters, banking matters, business and commercial disputes, class actions, real estate and real property disputes, contract actions, insurance disputes, consumer fraud, and health care disputes.

Representative Matters

• Administrative Law
• As an Assistant Attorney General, handled voluminous Administrative Review actions, defending the decisions of administrative agencies.
• Presided over numerous administrative review actions that involved various state agencies, including the Department of Insurance, Illinois State Police, the Department of Healthcare and Family Services, and the Village of Oaklawn Firefighters’ Pension Fund.
• Antitrust Competition Law
• Presided over several actions involving unfair competition, intentional interference with prospective economic advantage, misappropriation of trade secrets, and actions to enforce non-compete clauses.
• Presided over an action by a fire adjusting company against another fire adjusting company, alleging unfair competition, interference with prospective economic advantage, and defamation.
• Presided over a claim under the High Risk Home Loan Act and the Consumer Fraud Act.
• Presided over a major, complex parens patriae anti-trust action brought by the State of Illinois on behalf of indirect purchasers of products containing cathode ray tubes against electronics manufacturers, raising numerous anti-trust issues.
• Banking
• Arbitrated several actions challenging banking practices, including claims involving charges for NSF charges in alleged violation of Federal Reserve Regulation E.
• Presided over class action in a challenging manner in which the bank charged interest rates.
• Presided over an action challenging the bank’s foreclosure action for failure to comply with the provisions of TILA before foreclosing.
• Business & Commercial
• Mediated several business disputes, including an insurance breach of contract claim, a TCPA claim, a diversion of moneys from a joint account under the Joint Tenancy Act, an LLC dispute involving 20 buildings between two members alleging breach of fiduciary duty, and billing for healthcare claims. Handled arbitration claims involving the sale of a car with defective parts, wage and hour claim by employee and contact action against a commercial lender. 
• Presided over numerous cases involving partnership, corporate, and LLC dissolutions with allegations of fraud, breach of fiduciary duty, dealing, and self-dealing.
• Presided over a complicated Subchapter S corporation dispute between two brothers involving ownership of the company.
• Presided over a complicated patent and contract dispute between two entities involving a national pharmaceutical company and medical practice.
• Presided over an action challenging the application of franchise tax against the company.
• Civil Rights
• As Assistant Attorney General, handled numerous 14^th Amendment due process claims challenging the actions of the government, including a complex action challenging the Prevailing Wage Act statute.
• As an Assistant Attorney General, represented the Fair Employment Practices Commission in decisions involving claims of discrimination based on race, religion, ethnicity, and sexual orientation.
• As Assistant Attorney General, handled a major case involving the search of backstretch workers premises under the 4^th
• Presided over cases challenging government action under due process and equal protection.
• Presided over a dispute regarding the one man, one vote requirement of the constitution involving the Regional Transportation Authority.
• Presided over a case involving actions involving the discharge of a priest and a dispute over the allocation of authority to transfer a member of the clergy in a religious institution under the 1^st
• Class Action & Mass Tort
• As Assistant Attorney General, defended several class action law suits brought against the State of Illinois involving challenges to the unemployment compensation policies of the Illinois Department of Labor, challenges to warrantless searches carried out on the backstretches of a race track by the Illinois Department of Law Enforcement, and challenges to the policies of the Illinois Department of Human Rights.
• Presided over several class actions, including a complex wage claim action by real estate brokers challenging a violation of the state minimum wage law with regard to overtime pay.
• Presided over several class action law suits involving the Biometric Information Privacy Act, including a class action alleging that an employee was required to ”clock in” and “clock out” using a timeclock that operated by scanning Plaintiff’s fingerprint without following statutory requirements to protect Plaintiff’s privacy, a class action brought against the manufacturer of time clocks for using Plaintiff’s scans without notice or consent, and approved several BIPA class settlements proving compensation to employees who alleged violations of BIPA.
• Cybersecurity Data Breach
• Mediated a case involving the TCPA.
• As Assistant Attorney General as well as a judge, handled several cases challenging issues under the 4^th Amendment and right intrusion upon seclusion.
• Presided over several cases involving junk fax cases under the TCPA.
• Presided over several cases involving challenges to the Biometric Information Privacy Act, including statute of limitations claims, preemption by the Worker’s Compensation Act, and government contractor exclusion.
• Presided over issues involving electronic discovery disputes and have lectured on “Data Disputes: Lawyer’s Guide to Data Breach Mediation.”
• Education Law
• As judge in the Domestic Relations Division, presided over cases claiming children were entitled to an individualized education program (IEP) under Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973.
• As judge in the Chancery Division, presided over cases involving challenges to disciplinary actions by school boards and school officials.
• Presided over a case challenging the election of a board member of the board of education due to his conviction of a felony.
• Employment Law
• Arbitrated case alleging violation of the wage claim act.
• As Assistant Attorney General, prosecuted discharge cases for the Civil Service Commission and represented the Fair Employment Practices Commission in cases alleging discrimination based on race, ethnicity, religion, and religious orientation.
• Presided over administrative review cases challenging Illinois Department of Labor determinations regarding employment benefits, as well as administrative reviews challenging discharge cases by governmental agencies and challenges to pension determinations.
• Presided over a complex class action case involving broker fees alleged to be due to real estate brokers as well as a contract action brought by an attorney challenging his compensation upon discharge from the company.
• Estate Probate Trusts
• Presided over action against corporate trustees in managing and investing trust assets.
• Presided over a dispute between beneficiaries over the management of trusts by the trustee, the division of trust assets among beneficiaries, and claims for reimbursement by the beneficiary.
• Presided over undue influence by the trustee over the father’s assets by the father’s caretaker.
• Family Law

In Judge Jacobius’ 20 years of hearing family law cases, he presided over virtually every issue raised by family law cases and issued hundreds of opinions on family law issues.  Issues dealt with as a judge in family law include the following:

• Adjudication
• Allocation judgments
• Attorneys’ fees, interim fees, and sanctions (decision affirmed by the Illinois Supreme Court)
• Bad faith litigation
• College contribution
• Distribution of assets and allocation of debts
• Double counting
• Duty of both parties to mitigate damage to the marital estate
• Enforcement proceedings
• Enrollment of foreign judgments
• Equitable remedies: reformation/unjust enrichment/constructive trusts
• Fraud/material misrepresentation/appointment of the receiver
• Expert witnesses, business valuations, lifestyle, ability to parent, forensic accounting
• Grandparent visitation
• Imputing income
• Maintenance and reviews of maintenance
• Marital and nonmarital estate issues
• Orders of protection and extensions
• Parental responsibilities
• Parenting time
• Pension litigation, consent forms, and the anti-diminution clause of the Illinois Constitution
• Post-decree proceedings
• Pre- and postnuptial agreements
• Private/public pension issues
• Qualified Domestic Relations Orders [private pensions]
• Reimbursement to nonmarital estate
• Relocation of children 25 miles or more from their current home
• Stock options and valuations
• Support for adult disabled children
• Surviving spouse benefits
• Tax ramifications of divorce and the sale of marital assets
• Uniform Child Custody Jurisdiction and Enforcement Act
• Uniformed Services Spouses’ Protection Act

As a mediator and arbitrator, handled multiple divorce cases involving complex financial issues.

• Federal Law
• As Assistant Attorney General, handled various federal actions brought against the State of Illinois and its agencies, raising constitutional and federal claims.  These include actions brought under the 14^th Amendment to the United States Constitution alleging due process and equal protection claims and §1983 claims against actions by governmental employees.
• Governmental Public Agency
• As Assistant Attorney General for 17 years, handled cases brought against the State of Illinois. These include administrative appeals of governmental decisions, due process and equal protection claims to promulgated statutes, and suits to enforce governmental decisions. Represented the Illinois Racing Board, the Department of Labor, the Department of Insurance, the Department of Human Rights, and the Civil Service Commission, among others.
• Presided over numerous cases challenging governmental decisions and actions, including challenges to decisions by state agencies such as the Department of Insurance, the Department of Children and Family Services, the Department of Human Services, the Illinois Secretary of State, the Department of Employment Security, the Department of Public Health, the Department of Professional Regulation, and the Department of Employment Security.
• Presided over numerous cases to enforce administrative decisions.
• Health Care
• Mediated a dispute involving billing codes for healthcare claims.
• Presided over a patent dispute regarding a pharmaceutical company.
• Presided over disputes involving medical licenses, including a doctor’s suspension as a Medicaid provider and a declaratory judgment action regarding a medical practice.
• Presided over an injunction hearing to keep a hospital open.
• Insurance
• Served on a three-member arbitration panel deciding a contract dispute between the insurer and insured.
• Presided over numerous declaratory judgment actions involving diverse issues regarding insurance coverage and issued numerous written opinions, including a complex litigation case involving asbestos claims spanning a few decades dealing with excess and umbrella insurance coverage, an insurance dispute involving environmental contamination, and a coverage case involving sexual misconduct.
• Real Estate & Real Property
• Mediated a complex real estate dispute involving twenty properties and dissolution among partners.
• Presided over numerous cases involving real estate disputes, raising numerous issues, including a landmark case that dealt with the city’s claim of authority to control the construction of a restaurant on Park District property based on the easement it received.
• Presided over a dispute between adjoining owners of property regarding an easement.
• Presided over a lease dispute involving a medical practice.
• Presided over a dispute between condominium owners regarding the management of the property and a challenge by a condominium owner against the board managing the building.
• Presided over numerous foreclosure cases and numerous cases involving the right to receive surplus moneys after a foreclosure ended.

Honors, Memberships, and Professional Activities

Memberships and Affiliations

• Past President, Jewish Judges Association
• Life Time Board Member, Decalogue Society of Lawyers
• Past Member, Special Custody Committee, Illinois Supreme Court
• Past Member, Security Committee, Illinois Supreme Court
• Past Member, Associate Judge Selection Committee, Circuit Court of Cook County
• Past Member, Executive Committee, Circuit Court of Cook County
• Member in good standing Illinois Judges Association
• Member, Chicago Bar Association
• Member, Illinois State Bar Association

Selected Awards and Honors

• Lifetime Achievement Award, Decalogue Society of Lawyers, 2008, 2020
• Gary Wild Memorial Award, North Suburban Bar Association, 2021
• Advocate for Diversity, Diversity Scholarship Foundation, 2017
• Seymour Simon Justice Award, Jewish Judges Association, 2011

Selected Speaking Engagements

• Panelist, Provisional Remedies, West LegalEdcenter, October 5, 2023
• Panelist, Data Disputes: Lawyer’s Guide to Data Breach and Mediation, West LegalEdcenter, June 7, 2023, available online.
• Panelist, Crunch Time: Overcoming Impasses in Mediation, Chicago Bar Association, June 2, 2022
• Panelist, The Cutting-Edge Issues in Business Disputes, Civil Practice and Damage Awards, Chicago Bar Association, June 8, 2021
• Speaker, Cook County New Judges School, Nuts and Bolts of Civil and Criminal Contempt, Each year, 2012-2020
• Speaker, When Law and Equity Intersect: How Law and Equity Conflate, ABA, July 17, 2018
• Panelist, Sanctions: Supreme Court Rules 137 and 219 (c), Circuit Court Monthly Lunchtime Seminar Series, June 11, 2015

Background and Education

• JAMS Mediator and Arbitrator, April 2020–present  
• Circuit Court of Cook County, Illinois, 1991–2022
• Presiding Judge, Chancery Division, 2010–2022
• Presiding Judge, Domestic Relations Division, 2000–2010
• Judge, Domestic Relations Division, 1991–2000
• Office of the Illinois Attorney General, 1975–1991
• Counsel to the Attorney General, 1988–1991
• Chief, General Law Division, 1983–1988
• Chief, Industrial Commission, 1982–1983
• Assistant Illinois Attorney General, 1975–1982
• Teacher, Chicago Board of Education, 1969–1974
• J.D., cum laude, DePaul University College of Law, 1975
• M.A. History, University of Illinois at Chicago Circle, 1969
• B.A., History (minor in Psychology), University of Illinois at Chicago Circle, 1967