Arbitration

Each year Judge Tonigan gets selected as the “neutral arbitrator” in many 3 panel arbitration cases for Uninsured or Under-insured personal injury cases.  Judge Tonigan has never served as arbitrator for either plaintiff or defendant, but he has turned down such requests.

Although these matters often resolve pre-hearing, no 3 panel hearing awards conducted by him have been appealed.

Judge Tonigan has also served as a single arbitrator in personal injury cases, which has become more frequent with the advent of Zoom and the changes from COVID. Often these assignments carry with them an undisclosed “high – low” agreement.

Utilizing Judge Tonigan’s experience and knowledge of local jury verdicts, these single arbitration assignments permit parties to obtain a fair result and to avoid costly expert fees, time and uncertainty associated with jury trials.

   “ I have used Judge Tonigan in many  hearings as a neutral arbitrator in the past 13 years. He is always  well-prepared and reads everything. The reason that both sides agree to  use him

Is because he is extremely fair to both sides – as I say, he bats them up the middle.”

 Thomas J Popovich, McHenry

“I appeared  before Judge Tonigan on the bench for years. The insurance companies  I’ve represented all knew they’d receive fair treatment and level headed  decisions. That is why I, and

the companies that I represent, have used and valued his services as a mediator ever since,”

Daniel Compton, Elgin