Just Court ADR

Should domestic violence survivors and their abusers ever undergo family court mediation together? This is one of the thorniest debates in the ADR community. This week, the Montana Legislature weighed in with a qualified “yes.” The legislature passed a bill to revise state mediation laws on domestic violence. The bill, HB 555, enables survivors to give informed consent to mediation, while requiring specialized training for eligible mediators. This reverses the state’s prior understanding, in which a suspicion of any past abuse between parties, whether physical, sexual, or emotional, created an “absolute bar” to any court-ordered mediation. The history of the Montana mediation rules captures the evolution of thought on this topic, from rule creation to court re-interpretation to legislative refinement. (more…)