Justice (Ret.) Mathias W. Delort is a highly respected arbitrator, mediator, and legal consultant. As a justice on Illinois Appellate Court, he authored hundreds of influential opinions. He also served as a trial judge in one of America’s most distinguished and respected state courts–the Chancery Division of the Circuit Court of Cook County, Illinois. Bar associations consistently praised him for his excellent judicial temperament. With experience spanning government, business, real estate, and virtually all areas of civil litigation, Justice (Ret.) Delort brings fairness, insight, and efficiency to every matter he handles.
Since completing his judicial service in 2023, Justice (Ret.) Delort has dedicated his practice to arbitration, mediation, and neutral evaluation—helping parties resolve disputes with integrity and efficiency.
He is available to serve as:
Services are available in person, by videoconference, or in writing (paper arbitration).
During over a decade of service on the Illinois Appellate Court, Justice (Ret.) Delort heard thousands of appeals and countless contested motions. His peers selected him five times to serve as the presiding justice. He authored hundreds of opinions on civil and criminal matters and was considered to be one of the court’s best writers. His work on that court covered virtually every area of the law, including:
While serving in the Circuit Court of Cook County, Chancery Division, Justice (Ret.) Delort presided over thousands of banking, loan, real estate, equity/chancery, mortgage foreclosure, and breach of contract cases, many involving large commercial properties. During the Great Recession in the early 2000s, he handled over 300 receiverships, including on multi-unit residential properties, and on commercial properties such as large office buildings, shopping centers, and hotels. Dealing with the contentious high-value disputes which arise in a large metropolitan area, he also gained significant experience in complex multi-party litigation. He was the primary author of a 300-page bench book on banking law which was published by the Administrative Office of Illinois Courts, and which is used by judges throughout Illinois.
Earlier in his career, Justice (Ret.) Delort was an equity partner at a prominent mid-size Chicago law firm, representing local governments, school districts, pension boards, and community colleges throughout Illinois. In that role, he served as general counsel for entities with hundreds of employees and annual expenditures in the high eight-figure range. Besides that work, he also represented private clients such as a major league baseball team, the International Mensa Society, and a well-known Chicago real estate, healthcare, and restaurant management company. He counseled scores of federal, state, and local elected officials, candidates, and political committees in election law disputes. He also briefed and argued about thirty appeals in federal and state appellate courts and six in the Illinois Supreme Court, a remarkable number for an attorney in private practice.
Because of his background in technology, the Illinois Supreme Court appointed Justice (Ret.) Delort as a member of the court’s eBusiness Committee, helping implement and troubleshoot electronic filing in Illinois courts. He also served on the Board of Managers of the Chicago Bar Association and as chair of the association’s Local Government Law, Constitutional Law, and Election Law Committees. He served with distinction as the chair of the Mediation Committee of the Illinois Appellate Court, First District.
Justice (Ret.) Delort has received awards for his judicial and attorney service, including the Presidential Service Award from the Illinois Judges Association, the Robert J. Mangler Distinguished Service Award for Lifetime Achievement from the Illinois Local Government Lawyers Association, and the Judge Howard Markey Award for outstanding judicial service from the University of Illinois Chicago Law School. While serving as a trial court judge, he received the Court of Honor Award for outstanding judicial service from Chicago Volunteer Legal Services, which stated that he "handles each case with care and concern and treats each litigant and attorney with respect. That patience, intelligence and demeanor extend to pro bono attorneys who enjoy appearing before him, no matter how difficult the case."
Before joining the bench, he was listed as a “Super Lawyer” in the field of Cities and Municipalities Law and was named as a Local Government Fellow by the International Municipal Lawyers Association. He has also been the editor-in-chief of the leading treatise on Illinois Election Law for over twenty years.
Arbitrator and Mediator, Resolute Systems, LLC
Arbitrator and Mediator, American Arbitration Association (Commercial, Consumer, Healthcare, Employment, Judicial, Appellate, and UM panels)
Licensed in Illinois; admitted to the bars of the U.S. Supreme Court, Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals, and U.S. District Court (Northern District of Illinois Trial Bar)