Articles in the Media
State hopes mediation can ease court overload
Montgomery Advertiser, October 18, 2011
www.montgomeryadvertiser.com/apps/pbcs.dll/
article?AID=2011110180324
Written by Scott Johnson
The state is observing Mediation Week this week, hailing a potential remedy for overloaded court dockets.
The Alabama Bar Association declared Sunday through Saturday to be Mediation Week, and Gov. Robert Bentley issued a proclamation naming Friday as Mediation Day.
The enthusiasm for mediation is inspired in large part by economics as the state's court system struggles with cutbacks and layoffs.
Bentley's proclamation notes the savings that could be gained by moving cases out of the court system given the current economic climate.
When a case goes to mediation, a neutral third party helps the two sides reach their own agreement rather than leaving the outcome up to a judge or jury.
Montgomery County Circuit Court Judge Tracy McCooey said mediation helps clear court dockets but also helps the people involved come to a satisfactory settlement.
"It resolves things a lot quicker. Mediation is a wonderful thing as often as you can use it," McCooey said.
Mediation is most often employed for civil cases, although the court more recently has begun to use it more often in certain criminal cases, McCooey said.
Misdemeanor cases often are referred from city court for mediation, she said.
They usually involve fairly minor offenses and often involve disputes between neighbors or family members, making them good candidates for mediation, she added.
Courts have been ordered to limit the number of weeks that juries meet each year, so judges must prioritize which cases are tried, McCooey said.
That usually means the civil cases are going to be pushed back as serious criminal trials move to the front of the line, said McCooey, who has presided over capital murder trials in three straight jury periods.
"If you have a civil case, you might be waiting years to go to trial," she said.
Mediation also helps eliminate the element of surprise that a court judgment can bring, said Deborah Kingrea, a partner in Perry, Dampf and Kingrea, a Fairhope-based mediation firm.
Instead, the parties involved can come up with their own solution, Kingrea said.
"People are much more likely to comply with an agreement they have reached," she said.
In fact, the terms of a settlement do not have to be monetary when reached through mediation, said Judy Keegan, executive director of the Alabama Center for Dispute Resolution.
Keegan related the story of a mother who had lost her teenage son and was pursuing legal action against another teenager who she believed was responsible.
The entire case turned when the surviving teen offered the mother a simple apology. The mother was moved by the teen's contrition.
"A terrible burden was lifted from (the mother's) shoulders," Keegan said.
The mother ended up accepting the offer of a scholarship fund in her son's name, Keegan said.
Keegan has championed the use of mediation since the Alabama Center for Dispute Resolution was created by order of the Alabama Supreme Court in 1994. She has been the director the entire time.
Since then, there has been a general upward trend in the use of mediation in Alabama.
State-registered mediators reported handling 4,512 cases in 2010, with about 73 percent of those cases being settled.
Mediation does cost the parties involved, because the mediators must be paid, Keegan said. Often, the settlement helps determine who pays the fees.
Mediation can also help parties avoid public scrutiny or awkward situations, Keegan said, citing a case that involved the splitting up of a church congregation that included judges and lawyers on both sides.
"If the circuit judge ruled, it would be bad for everybody," she said.
The sides ended up releasing a joint news release vowing that they would support each other, she said.
"The court could not have done what mediation did," she said.