Codifying Mediation 2.0

February 5, 2010 | Barrister Club
The Ohio State University Moritz College of Law

Schedule | Brochure | Symposium Home

The Uniform Mediation Act (UMA), now enacted in 11 jurisdictions, covers mediation privilege, reports to the trier of fact, mediator conflict of interest, and right to be accompanied by counsel or other persons. The UMA left for another time issues of law that include limits on the authority to require parties to act in ways that stimulate settlement. That includes the extent to which courts should compel participation in mediation and how that required participation is defined; the appropriateness of mediation by the judge assigned a case for trial; the authority of the court to compel payment of mediators; and the regulation of private mediators who receive court or public agency referrals. Some of these issues would be appropriate for a model rule of procedure or ethics rule, rather than a statute. Most are limited to the public context, that is to a court or administrative agency mediation program.

This year’s day-long roundtable will examine these remaining issues. Should the rules of civil procedure be amended to provide a uniform approach? Would it be more appropriate for some or all of the issues to amend existing statutes, such as the Federal Dispute Resolution Act or the Uniform Mediation Act?

The roundtable will be followed by a paper symposium issue of the Ohio State Journal on Dispute Resolution. For further information, please contact Alexandra Dattilo at dattilo.5@osu.edu or Catherine K. Wong at wong.291@osu.edu.