Miscellaneous

Time = Money

By Anne Skove, Esq.

Does mediation save time and/or money?

If we had a nickel -- a penny! -- for every time someone asked us that, we'd be rich. If we had an answer, we'd be even richer. And we'd have all the time in the world!

But the real answer is "it depends." Whether the program is run by paid staff or volunteer elves (most are a combination), whether the mediators are any good (and how can one tell?), whether parties will actually go, where in the process cases get to mediation, whether judges feel comfortable referring parties, whether lawyers feel comfortable with the process, whether the program is well-run or being run into the ground, whether the person asking really meant to say "meditation"...all of these factor into the time and money savings.

Honestly, it got so bad that the field decided to stop asking the time/money question and spend time focusing on quality. What a concept! But this approach is too subjective for legislators in the best of times. Today, as nonprofit mediation centers face closure (as the nearly 20-year-old center in Fredericksburg did), providers will become harder to find.

Kenosha County, Wisconsin, seems to have landed upon a winning formula. See Mediation Celebration, Jessica Hansen, Kenosha News (January 1, 2009). Small claims, including landlord-tenant and collections, are hot right now. These cases have one thing in common: everybody (judges and parties) wants them to go away. Marquette University students have jumped in to mediate, and if they're not careful, they just might learn something. (Thanks again, Cos!)

Full post as published by court-o-rama.org on January 04, 2009 (boomark / email).