Allen S. Goldberg | |
|---|---|
| Judge, Circuit Court of Cook County, Chicago, Illinois | |
| In office 1993–2013 | |
| Succeeded by | Jerry Esrig |
| Personal details | |
| Education | University of Illinois (B.A. 1964),DePaul College of Law (J.D. 1967) |
Allen S. Goldberg is a retired American judge who served on the Circuit Court of Cook County,Illinois for 20 years. He headed the creation of a court-annexed mediation program in the Circuit court,and also served as a business court judge in the Law Division's Commercial Calendar.
Goldberg was elected as a judge to the Circuit Court of Cook County,Chicago,Illinois in 1992,and reelected in 1998,2004,and 2010. He retired in 2013. [1] The Circuit Court of Cook County is a state trial level court of general jurisdiction. [2] Goldberg served in the circuit court's Domestic Relations Division for seven years. He spent 10 years as a Commercial Calendar judge,and in his final years on the bench,he handled jury trials in the circuit court's Law Division. [3] [4] Goldberg was succeeded by Jerry Esrig. [5]
The Commercial Calendar is a specialized business court within the circuit court's Law Division,with a jurisdiction focused solely on commercial disputes. [6] It is one of the oldest business court programs in the United States,having first become operational in 1993. [7] Goldberg served as a Commercial Calendar judge from 2000 to 2011. [1]
Nationally,Goldberg is a past president of the American College of Business Court Judges, [8] and in 2005 he participated in the first meeting of the American College of Business Court Judges,co-sponsored by the Brookings Institution and American Enterprise Institute. [9] He served as a Business Court Representative to the American Bar Association's Business Law Section. [10]
A court-annexed civil mediation program was created in the Cook County Circuit court's Law Division in 2004. Goldberg "led a 60-member committee that spent more than nine months drafting rules governing mediation." [11] [12] [13] In 2005,Circuit court Judge Michael S. Jordan, [14] chair of the Illinois State Bar Association's Section on Alternative Dispute Resolutions,stated that the court-annexed mediation program was under Goldberg's supervision and responsibility. [15] That program still exists (as of August 2024),and is made available to a variety of different case types actionable in the Law Division,providing the litigants with an "opportunity to explore settlement alternatives with a highly trained and experienced mediator." [16]
Among examples of notable cases in which Goldberg presided as judge:a suit by singer James Brown against Corbis Corp.,a company founded by Bill Gates,over the use of Brown's photos on the internet, [17] an election fraud dispute brought by Jesse L. Jackson,Jr., [18] a dispute between Archipelago Holdings Inc. founder and Chief Executive Gerald Putnam and Fane Lozman, [19] [20] a suit between the Chicago Transit Authority and American Bus Industries,Inc. over the sale of hundreds of allegedly defective buses, [21] and a retaliatory discharge suit by Paul Liska against Motorola,Inc. [22]
After graduating law school,Goldberg spent a short time in private legal practice before joining the Legal Aid Bureau of the Office of Economic Development until 1970. [1] He next went to work for the Cook County Public Defender's Office,where he spent 21 years. He eventually became chief of its felony trial division. [1] [3] As head of the felony division,he supervised 150 lawyers. [4]
Goldberg received a Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Illinois in 1964,and a Juris Doctor degree from DePaul University College of Law in 1967. [3]
Goldberg has served in the following positions or received the following honors,among others;