I sued Sears for $3000 for damaging my carpet, in Chicago, IL. I thought I would be in small claims with just a judge, instead I am in Circu...

Question

I sued Sears for $3000 for damaging my carpet, in Chicago, IL. I thought I would be in small claims with just a judge, instead I am in Circuit court, pro se, had arbitration, won the award, SEARS rejected it, & wants 6 man jury trial. I want to have the judge deny their rejection based on their failure to comply with arbitration rule 90 (c), because they never supplied me with their wittness list, or anything before the arbitration hearing. Is this a valid argument, in that Sears was required to notify me 30 days in advance of their wittnesses & evidence?

Answer

Sure, it is a valid argument. I do not know that a judge will do that, since you won the arbitration anyway, so there is no harm. Head to the Cook County Law Library in Markham and start working on your jury instructions. You may also want to look at Mauet's book on trial technique.