| Allen S. Goldberg | |
| Office: | Judge, Circuit Court of Cook County, Chicago, Illinois |
| Term Start: | 1993 |
| Term End: | 2013 |
| 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 was an innovator on the court in leading the creation of a court annexed mediation program, and also served as a specialized 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]
The Commercial Calendar is a specialized business court within the circuit court's Law Division, with a jurisdiction focused solely on commercial disputes.[5] It is one of the oldest business court programs in the United States, having first become operational in 1993.[6] Goldberg served as a specialized business court Commercial Calendar judge from 2000 to 2011.[7]
Goldberg has been a leader nationally among business court judges. He 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 Institute and American Enterprise Institute.[9] He served as a Business Court Representative to the American Bar Association's Business Law Section.[10]
Goldberg is credited with being responsible for the Law Division's court-annexed mediation program.[11] In 2004, Goldberg headed the committee that drafted rules for the court-annexed mediation program.[12] [13] For twenty years, the program has been available to a wide range of case types in the Law Division, offering the parties an "opportunity to explore settlement alternatives with a highly trained and experienced mediator."[14]
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. 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. As head of the felony division, he supervised 150 lawyers. Since retirement, Goldberg has worked at the private alternative dispute resolution firm JAMS, providing mediation, arbitration, special master and other services as a neutral.
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.
Goldberg has served in the following positions or received the following honors, among others;