Working in the Courts you may wonder if you should promote Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR).
According to the State Bar of Michigan ADR Section, Nearly 70% of all cases sent to mediation result in settlements that day. Many cases that don’t settle on the day of mediation, do so shortly afterward.
A 1999 Supreme Court Administrator Office (SCAO) study showed a voluntary compliance rate of 90% for mediated agreements vs. 53% for non-mediated judgments. (SCAO Study of Small Claims Cases, 2001)
ADR is more flexible than the Courts. Although most are concluded in a single session, multiple mediation sessions are possible and can be scheduled at the convenience of the participants, including, day, evening, and weekends.
Although scheduling the actual ADR session(s) should be jointly determined between the facilitator and all counsel (or parties when there are not attorneys), mediation often works best when scheduled before positions harden and parties become entrenched.
Courts can order mediation, but at a minimum, courts should check for active personal protection orders and open child abuse and neglect cases, and if found, should not order the parties to mediation without first conducting a hearing.
The Michigan ADR Center only uses attorneys as facilitators to mediate cases and the attorneys are required to have completed the Interdisciplinary Collaborative Practice Training and/or ADR training approved by the State Bar of Michigan.
Why ONLY attorneys? Simple, they act as a facilitator and if the parties reach an agreement, the attorney can draft the agreement. If there is an agreement and if the agreement is to be drafted later, many times people back out of the agreement or bring up additional issues.
Also when ADR is sooner in a case, especially with children, the parties can agree on temporary orders and final judgment. This allows the stress of the parties to be limited, and fewer motions while a case is pending.
Michigan ADR Center will not accept cases with just one attorney. Our policy is either both parties must have an attorney or neither has an attorney present. The exception to this is in cases where there is one attorney and the attorney agrees to allow his/her client to attend with their attorney, thus either no attorneys or both have attorneys.
Michigan ADR Center can set up several programs for a Court. It can be as simple as providing the Court / Friend of the Court with business cards to provide the parties with more information about the Michigan ADR Center to taking Court Ordered cases.
While we required both parties to attend the ADR session, a party can attend electronically. Currently, we offer distance participation via telephone. In the future, we hope to offer other methods.
We can offer service in Macomb and St. Clair Counties with locations in both counties.