Hon. Susan F. Zwick (Ret.) joins JAMS after over 22 years of service on the Cook County bench where she presided over a wide range of matters, including complex commercial litigation and domestic relations matters. She is known for her ability to grasp relevant issues quickly, as well as her frank and effective communication style.
Judge Zwick’s long career as an advocate and judge in the Cook County courts makes her a uniquely qualified ADR neutral with extensive experience in the following areas:
- Business/ Commercial
- Contracts
- Construction Defect
- Education/Schools
- Government/Administrative Law and Compliance
- Employment/Labor
- FELA/Jones Act
- Insurance/ Insurance Coverage
- Medical Negligence/Health Care
- Mortgage/Banking Industry
- Personal Injury/Torts
- Professional Liability
ADR Experience and Qualifications
- Business/Commercial & Insurance
- Mediator in multiple cases involving banks, banking practices and mortgage issues
- Arbitrator/Mediator/Neutral Umpire in insurance coverage disputes
- Arbitrator in products liability/breach of warranty cases
- Arbitrator in professional liability and attorney fee dispute
- Construction
- Neutral reviewer on numerous Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) claims related to Superstorm Sandy
- Mediator in cases involving construction and engineering defects in commercial buildings
- Health Care
- Mediator/Arbitrator in numerous nursing home cases involving standard of care, governmental compliance and insurance issues
- Environment
- Mediator/Arbitrator in numerous asbestosis matters
- Employment
- Mediator in wrongful termination/contract renegotiation in entertainment industry
- Mediator in sexual harassment litigation
Representative Matters
- Presided over several intentional tort/personal injury claims involving punitive damages and the resulting insurance ramifications, including a defamation/false light action which grew out of a termination of employment for a union employee
- Presided over numerous FELA actions, including both traumatic and repetitive injury claims
- Presided over a multi-party Consumer Fraud Act lawsuit between homeowners and homebuilders involving land engineering through varied water tables and municipal regulations
- Negotiated insurance coverage issues which allowed for the settlement of several cases involving allegations of fraud in contract formation
- Presided over numerous real estate foreclosure and mortgage disputes involving both commercial and residential units and allegations of contractual breaches
- Resolved all personal injury actions arising from the 2006 Chicago Transportation Authority Blue Line derailment
- Presided over numerous professional liability/medical negligence disputes, including disputes between individuals and the respective professional licensing board
- Determined numerous claims involving scope of contractual obligations between contractors and principals and individual workers on construction projects
- Presided over a multi-million dollar insurance fraud/fire loss claim
- Settled numerous personal injury suits, including several catastrophic injury and burn cases
