Judge Daniel Lynch has extensive experience and training in comprehensive civil mediation. He is skilled and effective at forging resolutions in cases ranging from the more routine of two-party disputes to the most complex of multi-party matters.
Judge Lynch presided over and tried hundreds of jury trials to verdict. He has a great depth of real-world civil litigation experience across the full spectrum of all types of civil cases.
While serving over 22 years on the bench, he encouraged mediation in matters before and during trials, even after jury verdicts, and he conducted countless settlement conferences to successfully resolve disputes.
Judge Lynch has the patience to ensure that lawyers have the merits of their client’s positions fully heard and properly assessed by their opponents. He works hard as a mediator and arbitrator at understanding the nuances of cases and the parties’ various viewpoints. As a neutral, he offers his extensive experience as a trial judge and trial lawyer and a very wellseasoned understanding of the challenges of civil litigation from the practitioner’s perspective.
Judge Lynch is known by litigators and his judicial colleagues as an intelligent, hardworking judge and mediator noted for his great skills at handling long and complex proceedings and the challenging issues within them. He has a very solid grasp of procedural and evidentiary rules, civil and criminal law, and the great ability to apply his knowledge and settlement skills to fact patterns in a broad range of disputes.
After the inception of the Cook County Law Division’s Advanced Random Assignment of Complex Cases for Trial from Selected Judges Program, Judge Lynch became the most highly sought after and assigned trial judge in that program. It attracted many of the most accomplished and prominent attorneys and firms across both sides of the bar and often involved hotly contested, high stakes, and complex matters.
Simply put, Judge Lynch has the breadth of experience, knowledge, patience, and the personality traits to assist attorneys and their clients in getting the other side to fully understand the benefits of resolution in the broader context of the risks of continuing litigation. Attorneys can trust that Judge Lynch will work along with them, on behalf of their clients, utilizing his expertise, mediation skills, and patience, to successfully guide litigation opponents to full and fair settlements.
Professional Experience
- Resolute Systems, LLC – April 2022 to present
- Judge, Circuit Court of Cook County, Chicago, Illinois – 1998 to 2021 Law Division – Jury Trial Section, 2009 – 2021
- Assistant Cook County State’s Attorney – Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office, 1988 – 1998
- First Chair Senior Trial Counsel – Felony Trial Division, Gang Crimes Prosecution Unit, Public Integrity Prosecution Unit
Education
- DePaul University College of Law, J.D. – 1988
- Creighton University, B. A. – 1985
Mediation Related Training
- Comprehensive Civil Mediation Course – Circuit Court of Cook County Chicago Bar Association – August 2009
- George Mason University School of Law – Law & Economics Center – Completed twelve law and economic conference courses 2002 – 2021
Presentations
- ABA Annual Meeting – Section of Litigation: Beginning with the End in Mind – Classic Chicago Closings
- Law Bulletin Seminars – 6th Annual Symposium with the Judges: Be More Effective at Trial – Tips from the Jury Section Judges
- HPS Law – Standard Club of Chicago: The Impact of Change to Illinois’ Jury Trial System
- American Conference Institute’s 23rd National Forum on Asbestos Claims and Litigation – The View from The Bench: The Judges Speak on the Evolving Landscape of Asbestos Litigation
- IICLE – Laying Foundations for Introducing Evidence
