Miscellaneous

Mediation to the Rescue

By Anne Skove, Esq.

Ohio has long been on the forefront of mediation, from Capital University Law grads who set the ADR world on fire (not literally) to Dean Rogers's efforts at OSU.

Unfortunately, Ohio is also one of the top foreclosure states at the moment. Recall Chief Justice Moyer encouraged Ohio lawyers to mediate these cases. Now, the state's highest court has a model program courts may use.

The program is the result of the supreme court's Dispute Resolution Section Advisory Committee's Foreclosure Working Group. (See, it's not *always* "death by committee!") The group brought many to the party: judges, magistrates, meduators, attorneys, legal aid, educators, mortgage bankers, and homeowners. The Foreclosure Legal Assistance Group supported and advised.

We wonder whether other similarly-situated states will use the model, too. Let us know if you do!

See Foreclosure Mediation Program Now Available to Ohio Courts, Supreme Court of Ohio press release (February 7, 2008).

Full post as published by court-o-rama.org on February 11, 2008 (boomark / email).