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Leaving an ADR Legacy

Susan Yates, December 14th, 2011

Court ADR lost a champion yesterday when Judge Harris H. Agnew, RSI’s long-time Executive Committee Chair, passed away after a long struggle to regain his health. Judge Agnew led by example, with kindness and courage.  This blog post I wrote back in April talks about the tremendous role he played in advancing court ADR in Illinois. But there was so much more to Harris than just his work with ADR.

Those of us who were fortunate to know him learned a lot from Harris:

Leading sometimes means doing what is right, even when others don’t see it.

Whether it was mentoring the first women to join the bench in the 17th Judicial Circuit or implementing arbitration and mediation there, Harris stuck his neck out. He opened doors for people and ideas that would bring positive change even in the face of opposition.

Be kind, but don’t be a patsy.

Harris was so kind to everyone he met that it took me a while to understand just how politically savvy he really was. (more…)

Posted in People & Events | 7 Comments »

Uniform Mediation Act – Ten Years Later

Susan Yates, July 1st, 2011

The JAMS Dispute Resolution Alert has a good article by Justin Kelly about the ten-year anniversary of the Uniform Mediation Act. Having participated in some of the deliberations during the drafting of the Act, I have been interested to see how it has been implemented.

One thing that stands out to me, even after ten years, is the lack of clarity among mediators, lawyers and the mediating public about exactly what the Act provides in terms of confidentiality. Many see the UMA as providing confidentiality of all mediation communications. In fact, what it provides is much narrower than that. (more…)

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Posted in Policy-making | 1 Comment »

Professor Seeks Domestic Violence Screening Tools

Susan Yates, June 28th, 2011

Prof. Susan Raines of Kennesaw State University is seeking examples of instruments used by mediation programs to screen for domestic violence. She writes:

“As Georgia considers revising its screening tools and policies for domestic violence in mediation, I am seeking examples from other jurisdictions within and outside the United States. As a researcher at Kennesaw State University’s Conflict Management Master’s Program, it is my hope that any changes to Georgia’s DV screening and policies will reflect the current state of knowledge on the subject as well as best practices from our peer courts.”

If your state or program has tools to share please send them to Susan (sraines@kennesaw.edu). She may also conduct a small number of interviews with court staff, judges, or mediators in other states. If Susan’s name sounds familiar, it may be because she is the editor of Conflict Resolution Quarterly, where she does a great job juggling lots of potential articles and putting together a quality publication.

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Posted in Policy-making, Program Management, Training, Skills & Techniques | No Comments »

ADR and Self-Represented Litigants

Susan Yates, June 24th, 2011

The Center for American Progress has published a paper, “Grounds for Objection: Causes and Consequences of America’s Pro Se Crisis and How to Solve the Problem of Unrepresented Litigants” that recommends ADR as one method for helping the growing numbers of pro se litigants in the country’s courtrooms:

“Alternative dispute resolution methods administered by lawyers and nonlawyers alike can help people avoid court altogether. Mediation is often considered particularly useful in family law cases where it can promote cooperation in parents who must remain significantly involved with one another after their case is resolved.”

The author wisely points out that ADR is not a panacea:

“For some litigants, alternatives to the traditional client-attorney relationship will not work. They may be unable to resolve their disputes in mediation, their case may be too complicated, or they may face personal issues such as mental health problems that make both ADR and self-representation poor options.”

This takes a very healthy perspective, one that those of us who care about both ADR and about individuals with limited resources should embody. We should think broadly about how the processes we promote can assist people and what the limits are to the effectiveness of these processes.

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Posted in Policy-making | 1 Comment »

Judicial Champions for Court ADR

Susan Yates, March 23rd, 2011

I suspect that every state that has successful court ADR programs has a Judge Agnew. He is the judge who championed ADR when people were still confusing mediation and arbitration. He led by example, experimenting with ADR in his own jurisdiction, and led by persuasion, convincing other judges to give ADR a try in their jurisdictions. He led on a statewide level, working inside the structure of the courts and bar associations. He used the standing and relationships he had developed through years of dedicated service, to promote a new way to serve those who turn to the courts for justice, while also meeting the needs of the lawyers, judges and court personnel who work within the justice system every day.

Yesterday RSI honored the Honorable Harris H. Agnew, former Chief Judge of the 17th Judicial Circuit, based in Rockford, Illinois for his decades of tireless work to expand and enhance the use of court ADR (more…)

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Posted in People & Events | 3 Comments »

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