Arbitration & Mediation

The Domino?s Pizza School of Mediation

By Christopher Annunziata

When I first started mediating, I signed up for several court-ordered lists.  Some allow me to charge my full market rate, others pay a very modest stipend.  I knew I wasn’t even going to pay for my gas with the stipend I received from one particular small claims court, but I go every week and mediate cases waiting on the calendar. My thoughts were: a) while “small,” the issues are the same as those in “larger” cases, and I could use the experience; and b) many of the parties are represented by counsel who might later refer cases to me.

Last week, however, the Chief Judge spoke with the Mediation Coordinator (who does an excellent job wrangling the mostly pro se parties and the mediators) about a perceived “issue” with the small claims mediation - they take “too long.”   So we are now under direction to “evaluate” the chances of reaching resolution within 30 minutes.  If we don’t think resolution is possible,  we are to declare an impasse and return the parties to the court.

It’s the Domino’s Pizza School of Mediation.

I will admit that a large part of this perceived problem is my fault, though the coordinator will deny that.  I work efficiently, but I am patient with the parties because it is their case.  They must come to terms with resolution.  Of the more than 50 cases I’ve handled in the last year, I can only think of one instance where the judge was ready to leave the bench and I asked for additional time because the parties were close to settlement.

I’m not certain how I feel about this new policy.  I understand that the court wants to operate efficiently and schedules cases it believes it can hear and resolve during its 3 hour sessions.  Lengthy mediations on cases arguing over $1200 do not help the parties or the courts.

But it does not feel like true mediation if I get to decide within 30 minutes whether the parties can reach a resolution.  For one, I’d be a terrible mediator if I wasn’t confident in my skills and didn’t believe I could get most cases to settle.

I’m going to have to wait and see how this works.  I suspect that once a few parties complain that a mediator either gave them the short shrift or pushed them to settle in order to satisfy this new rule, it will go the way of the dodo.   If not, I may stop taking these cases.  Like I said, the stipend they pay isn’t going to be the difference between making my mortgage payment or not.

Full post as published by CKA Mediation and Arbitration Services Blog on October 22, 2008 (boomark / email).