Judge Michael J. Fusz retired from 19th Judicial Circuit Court of Lake County, Illinois in November of 2019 after a 15-year judicial career. He sat in various courts in the Civil Division for 11 years, where he presided over a wide variety of civil litigation matters including wrongful death, personal injury, property damage, business and commercial disputes, probate cases, landlord–tenant disputes, condemnation and insurance coverage matters, as well as administrative reviews.

While on the bench, Judge Fusz heard and ruled on innumerable bench trials and presided over in excess of 180 jury trials, including more than 80 civil jury trials. He regularly conducted civil settlement conferences, with the majority reaching settlement prior to trial.  He served in the Law Division of the 19th Judicial Circuit from February 2013 to November 2019. Prior to that, he served in Probate/Arbitration Court from July 2012 to February 2013 and presided over Small Claims, Landlord-Tenant cases and Post-Judgment matters from September 2008 to July 2012.  Judge Fusz also presided over the 19th Judicial Circuit’s Therapeutic Intensive Monitoring (T.I.M. court), a special mental health court program, from January 2007 through June 2012.

In addition to his Mediation and Arbitration practice, Judge Fusz has been an adjunct Business Law instructor in the Business Division at the College of Lake County since 1985. He also served as an intelligence officer in the United States Navy Reserve from 1987 to 2007, retiring as a Lieutenant Commander. He is a member of the Illinois Bar Association, the Jefferson Inn and the Lake County Bar Association. He is also an editor of the Lake County Bar Association monthly publication, “The Docket.”