Qualification Path

Category 2: American Arbitration Association

English

Current Position & Background

Jill S. Tanz serves as a Mediator in northern Illinois in commercial, real estate, partnership, construction, condominium and probate disputes. She is a member of the American Arbitration Association's Roster of Neutrals serving on its panel of Mediators. She is also a certified mediator in the Circuit Court of Cook County Mediation Program in both the Law and Chancery Divisions and is a certified mediator for the Center for Conflict Resolution in Chicago. Ms. Tanz is also a certified arbitrator for the Circuit Court of Cook County.

Ms. Tanz is an Adjunct Professor at DePaul University College of Law where she teaches mediation. Ms. Tanz worked at Sachnoff and Weaver in Chicago for eight years, practicing in the areas of real estate, condominium and general corporate law.

Ms. Tanz founded Chicago Mediation LLC to provide mediation services to the business community in northern Illinois. More information about Ms. Tanz is available at her website, www.chicagomediation.com and the American Arbitration Association mediator website, www.aaamediation.com.

Main Mediation Practice Areas

Areas of particular experience as a mediator include:
• Real Estate, condominium and landlord/tenant disputes
• Construction disputes
• Partnerships and business dissolution
• Probate and estate disputes
• Contract disputes
• Commercial and consumer matters

Mediation Experience

Ms. Tanz has eight years of experience as a mediator in over 200 commercial, business, real estate, community, juvenile and custody related disputes.

Mediation Style

I primarily work as a facilitative mediator, but I believe mediators should use all tools and styles depending on the nature of the dispute and the stage of the mediation. I begin the process with pre-mediation discussions to understand the obstacles to settlement and design a process that will have the greatest likelihood of success. This includes deciding who will attend the mediation and what submissions will be required prior to the start of the formal mediation session. During the mediation I try to engage the parties, as well as their attorneys, in discussions about the dispute and solutions both in joint session and in caucus. Mediation is a flexible process for facilitating hard bargaining or for finding creative solutions and I will use techniques to promote either or both depending on the circumstances.

Code of Ethical Conduct

Model Standards of Conduct for Mediators
IMI Code of Professional Conduct

Complaints Process

IMI Professional Conduct Assessment Process

Professional Indemnity Insurance

Complete Equity Markets, Inc. $250,000 each claim

Feedback Digest

Reviewer: AAA/ICDR STAFF ( imireviewer@adr.org )
Latest Update: 11 May 2010 21:38

This Feedback Digest is based on 6 Feedbacks in 6 Mediations as of May 11, 2010.

Parties and counsel who have used Jill Tanz would overwhelmingly use her services again and would, without hesitation, recommend her to others. Typical of the comments reflecting Ms. Tanz’s acceptability are: (i) Ms. Tanz is calm, thoughtful and shows good judgment; (ii) Ms. Tanz handled a contentious matter beset with acrimony between the parties and she managed to gain the confidence of each litigant to achieve a settlement in principle; (iii) I felt Ms. Tanz was very accommodating, such as agreeing to come out to where all the parties and attorneys were located. I also felt she was very neutral, but persuasive as to the benefits of settling; (iv) Ms. Tanz is professional and earns respect with her unbiased comments and sincere demeanor. I would be delighted to work with her again; and (v) Ms. Tanz is a good, sincere and hard working mediator who handles herself in an outstanding manner.

Ms. Tanz’s mediation skills and abilities are rated as highly effective. Typical of feedback received in this regard are: (i) Ms. Tanz was good at keeping us on point and showing us how to talk to each other more effectively; (ii) Her patience and ability to gain confidence of litigants made a decisive difference in the outcome; (iii) I thought Ms. Tanz kept her demeanor and approach very neutral to both sides. I felt she made it clear that settling could be very beneficial and not settling could be quite onerous without being too “pushy”. She had the ability to make my client realize that it was not a personal defeat to settle; (iv) Jill Tanz had prepared for the mediation. She understood the issues and the subtleties of each party’s position; (v) Ms. Tanz was able to bring the parties closer together. She did a nice job in framing the issues and in suggesting options; and (vi) Ms. Tanz took her role as a mediator as it truly should be, not as a judge of anyone’s position, but as one trying to facilitate a settlement that will bring the matter to an end without or, at least, with a minimum of finger pointing and blame.

Costs were widely reported as reasonable in the context of the value of the disputes mediated by Ms. Tanz, and in general a very high degree of satisfaction was reported.

No reportable negative comments have been received since Ms. Tanz’s designation as an IMI Certified Mediator.

Professional Affiliations

American Arbitration Association
American Bar Association (Dispute Resolution Section)
Chicago Bar Association (Alternative Dispute Resolution Committee)
Association for Conflict Resolution
Association of Conflict Resolution Chicago Chapter (Professional Development Committee, Past Co-Chair)

Fee Rate

$300 Per Hour
All preparation time, including preliminary conferences and document review is charged at the hourly rate. Cancellation policy: $1,200 if canceled within 48 hours, plus time otherwise billable.

Mediation Education and Training

Pepperdine University School of Law, Strauss Institute for Dispute Resolution, Mediating Complex Construction Disputes, 2005;
DePaul University Center for Dispute Resolution, Mediation Training, 2005;
Center for Conflict Resolution, Train the Trainer, 2005;
Center for Conflict Resolution, Mediation Skills Training, 2002.

Mediation Teaching and Mentoring

Ms. Tanz has been an Adjunct Professor at DePaul University College of Law since 2006 where she teaches Mediation. She is also on the faculty of the Center for Dispute Resolution of DePaul University College of Law where she teaches the 40 hour Mediation Certificate Training Course. Ms. Tanz is a trainer and coach at the Center for Conflict Resolution, Chicago, IL. She speaks frequently at Professional meetings in Chicago.