Judge Delort visits the Supreme Constitutional Court of the Czech Republic along with Czech judges, American law professors, and suburban attorneys.
Judge Delort believes that the role of a judge encompasses much more than showing up at the courthouse and handling the daily call. The court is a public institution. As such, those in authority must constantly evaluate its effectiveness in administering justice and how it interacts with the public and the legal community.
Judge Delort’s accomplishments in the past four years are almost too numerous to list. Some of them are:
Developed twenty new courtroom forms to enhance legibility and homeowners’ understanding of their court orders.
Coordinated the development of the portion of Chief Judge's web site for the 13 judges of Judge Delort’s section, and worked with the Chief Judge’s regarding the language, links, and operation of web site. Each judge’s standing orders, forms, and contact information are now available on-line for the first time. Received a letter of commendation from Chief Judge Evans for this work.
Serving as chair of Procedures Subcommittee of Illinois Supreme Court Mortgage Foreclosure Committee. The subcommittee has developed approximately ten recommendations for court rule and statutory amendments to simplify the foreclosure process, assist attorneys and borrowers, and ensure the integrity of the proofs which banks present in foreclosure cases.
Wrote a 200-page bench book on mortgage foreclosure law and courtroom procedures, which is now used by judges across the state. The book is the first bench book ever in Illinois on mortgage foreclosure law and has been praised by Judge Delort’s superiors.
Established a single, specially-set, monthly court call for receivers to submit reports on commercial properties, creating an economy of scale which results in lower fees imposed by receivers against borrowers, convenience for the receivers and their attorneys. Moving these cases to a special call also reduces the waiting time for borrowers and attorneys on the regular contested call, because the call is no longer delayed by the presentation of receiver reports.
Issued first standing orders of any foreclosure judge, a practice which is now followed by every other foreclosure judge.
Established the first comprehensive courtroom hand-out for self-represented borrowers. The simple one-page handout provides contact information for help agencies and specific tasks they need help with on a single, easy-to-read form.
Primarily responsible for training all new judges in the section on case law and courtroom procedure; developed curriculum and course materials for this training.
Issued over 100 written opinions and published them on Westlaw for access by other judges, foreclosure attorneys and borrowers.
Established the practice of using law school summer externs to perform annual tasks in chambers, such as updating case files, culling obsolete files, and updating computer logs, all free of charge to the taxpayers.
At the request of the Presiding Judge of the Chancery Division, presented a lecture, "Dealing with Self-Represented Litigants", to all section judges, and prepared Power Point visual aids and course materials.
Negotiated the form and contents of a single form receiver order and receiver instructions used by all ten mortgage foreclosure judges. Receivers are appointed to manage financially distressed commercial properties. The order and instructions were then, for the first time, posted on internet in PDF, WordPerfect and MS Word formats for use by attorneys.
