Transcript ADR in Colorado - Colorado Judicial Branch

ADR and ODR in
Colorado
by
Cynthia A. Savage,
ODR Director
AGENDA
• What is Alternative Dispute
Resolution (“ADR”)?
• Why use ADR?
• ADR in Colorado
• The Office of Dispute Resolution
(“ODR”)
Dispute Resolution:
Many Different Roads
Negotiation
Mediation
Arbitration
Litigation
Dispute Resolution Continuum
A
V
Negotiation
O
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I
Arbitration
Mediation
D
W
Litigation
_______________________
Third party involvement
__________________
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Parties Decide
Third party decides
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Private
Public
A
R
Why Mediation?
Cost and time effective
Saves judicial resources
High quality solutions
Preserves relationships
Prevents problems from recurring
High satisfaction
Why Arbitration?
• Cost and time effective
• Saves judicial resources
• Decision-maker(s) can have subject
matter expertise
• Creature of contract:
– Party choice of decision-maker and process
• More informal than trial
Mediation
and Alternative Dispute Resolution
In Colorado’s State Courts
Legislation
Colorado Dispute Resolution Act
House Joint Resolution 97-1020
Hundreds of Statutory References
Colorado Dispute Resolution Act
§13-22-301, et seq. (C.R.S.)
 Court authority to refer to
mediation or ADR
 Exemption from referral
 Creation of Office of
Dispute Resolution
 Parties’ choice of
mediator or ADR provider
 Confidentiality provided
 Limitation on mediator
liability
 Definitions
House Joint Resolution 97-1020
• Legislature finds: in the public interest that citizens be
able to resolve civil disputes without having to resort to
litigation;
– Much time and money could be saved,
– the courts would be more accessible, and
– the public would be better served
• Encourages the Judicial Department and the courts to
– expand the use of the “Dispute Resolution Act” and
– to find and use other techniques and programs to permit and
encourage the resolution of disputes without the necessity for
litigation.
Implementation in Trial Courts
Snapshot: FY2007 over10,000 referrals
22 Judicial Districts, each different:
• Blanket dom rel mediation orders (10)
• Blanket district court civil ADR orders (9)
• Multi-door courthouses (5)
• Case management conferences
• Individual judge blanket or case specific
referrals
TYPES OF CASES
REFERRED TO ADR
 FAMILY:
 DOMESTIC RELATIONS
 CHILD SUPPORT
ENFORCEMENT
 DEPENDENCY AND
NEGLECT (Child Welfare)
 JUVENILE
 Paternity (Child Support
and Parenting Time)
 Truancy
 Delinquency
 PROBATE
 CIVIL
 DISTRICT COURT CIVIL
 COUNTY COURT
 SMALL CLAIMS COURT
 CRIMINAL
 MISDEMEANOR
 FELONY
Mediation and ADR
in Criminal Cases
ADR Settlement Conferences
JD4, JD1
Restorative Justice
Restoring Victim, Offender, and Community
Examples
Victim-Offender Mediation
Community Accountability Boards
Family Group Conferencing
High-Risk Victim-Offender Dialogue
Implementation in the Colorado Court
of Appeals
 Civil Settlement
Program
 Administrator: Senior
Judge John Criswell
 Cases Screened by
Staff Attorney
 Assigned to senior
appellate judges
 Scheduling by ODR
• Domestic Relations
Mediation Pilot
– Administrator: ODR
and COA
– Cases Assigned by
COA
– Mediation provided by
ODR and private
sector
ODR Mission and Statutory Authority
• The Office of Dispute Resolution, created by
the Colorado Dispute Resolution Act, sections
13-22-301 et seq. (C.R.S.) in 1983, is a part of
the Colorado Judicial Branch, and is charged
with establishing and making available
dispute resolution services throughout
Colorado.
• The courts were encouraged to expand use of
the Dispute Resolution Act by HJR 97-1020.
ODR Mission and Statutory Authority
ODR carries out its mission as follows:
• assisting the courts in
designing,
implementing, and
administering dispute
resolution programs;
• consulting with state and
local governments;
• providing dispute
resolution services;
• providing information to
the public;
• collaborating with other
individuals and
organizations, to
increase access to
dispute resolution
services; and
• providing dispute
resolution education and
training.
ODR Mission and Statutory Authority
ODR’s ultimate goals are:
1. To increase access to justice
in the form of affordable, effective, appropriate,
and humane methods of dispute resolution;
2. To decrease inappropriate methods of
dispute resolution,
including physical and psychological violence; and
3. To provide an alternative
to protracted or bitter litigation.
ODR Staff – FY08
• Central Office
(Denver)
–
–
–
–
–
Director
Projects Manager
Business Manager
Scheduler
Data
Specialist/Scheduler
• 8 Regional Program
Administrators
• JD4
– Assistant to the
Program Administrator
– 2 Schedulers
• JD18
– Scheduler
ADR Providers
 Office of Dispute Resolution
Independent Contractors from Private Sector
 Community Mediation Services
Limited Staff
Volunteers
 Private Sector
Paid Professionals
Volunteers
Mediation and ADR Professionals - Qualifications
 Statutory Reference
to “Trained” Mediator
 No State Regulation
in Colorado
 ODR Policies
 Voluntary
Recommendations for
Mediator Education/
Training and
Experience
 Colorado Model
Standards of Conduct
for Mediators
ODR ADR Caseload
• 1984 – 1985:
– 3 volunteer mediators
– 54 domestic relations cases from Denver
• FY08:
– 55 professional mediators and ADR professionals
(independent contractors)
– over 5,000 cases statewide:
• Family
• Civil
• Criminal
ODR SPECIAL PROJECTS
• Access and Visitation
Grant (federal)
– Indigent/low income
mediation, parenting
facilitation, and PC/DM
– CSE pilot projects
– Parenting education
training for trainers
– Supervised parenting
conference
– CFI Training
• Indigent Services
–
–
–
–
Domestic relations
D&N
Truancy
other
• Mini-Grants for
Community Conflict
Resolution and
Restorative Justice
• ADR Statewide
Conference
Evaluation of Mediation and ADR in
Colorado’s State Courts
• Outside Evaluators
– Dependency Mediation in Colorado’s Fourth
Judicial District (Colorado Springs)
– Dissolution of Marriage in the Tenth Judicial
District (Pueblo)
• Internal Evaluations
– ICON (Judicial Computer Network) Statistics
– ODR Statistics
– ODR Client Surveys
– Customized Pilot Project Evaluations