"ADR"

The biggest change that has occurred in the legal system in the past decade is the utilization of alternate dispute resolution!

That may sound like a rather bold statement and some people may believe that it is an incorrect statement. There have been other activities which have had major impact on our legal system in the last ten years - issues such as advancements in automation and technology, the growth of areas of the law like intellectual property, the expansion of legal practice across county lines, state lines and into other countries, many more pro se litigants, or the multitude of unlawful practice of law issues. However, I believe that none of those can compare with the explosion of
the use of alternate dispute resolution techniques here in West Virginia and throughout the country.

In 1990, the only real work being done in a alternate dispute resolution was the Settlement Week Program in the Northern District Federal Court. Under the inspired leadership of Judge Robert Maxwell, some small number of mediators had been trained and mediation sessions were being held in a number of Federal Court cases. Judge Maxwell's vision was that the mediation process was beneficial for the parties, for the lawyers, for the court system and for the general public. It was a win-win-win-win situation for everyone.

The State Bar responded to Judge Maxwell's request for progress to occur in the Settlement Week Program. The State Bar initiated a day long training session for lawyers who wanted to learn more about mediation and be able to participate in the Settlement Week cases. The State Bar turned to the WVU College of Law for teaching assistance and the Dean at that time, Don Gifford, taught part of the course and other Law School Professors were involved. That relationship has continued throughout the decade - in the past several years, Professor Tom Patrick, who served as Judge Maxwell's Clerk and helped to set up the initial Settlement Week Program, has become the lead mediation instructor after taking a position at the Law School.

The State Bar's Alternate Dispute Resolution Committee has been a significant factor over this time period. Its members have been committed to expanding alternate dispute resolution throughout our court system and they have given untold amounts of time and energy to accomplish that goal.

In the early 90's, the Committee worked diligently on a Court Annexed Mediation System for our state court system. A proposed plan was put together, amended, re-amended and further hashed out until a final agreed upon product was done. The plan was presented to the Supreme Court and in 1994, it was approved and has been in existence since that time.

After that, the Supreme Court trained Circuit Court Judges in the ways that alternate dispute resolution could assist them with their cases. Then, in 1997, the Supreme Court moved forward aggressively in setting up a pilot mediation project in the three counties in the Eastern Panhandle for family law cases. This was an innovative process in determining if alternate dispute resolution techniques would be useful in family law cases which had become the largest part of the legal system caseload in West Virginia. There have been other alternate dispute resolution programs implemented in the past several years.

The State Bar has committed extensive resources to alternate dispute resolution over the years. The members of the its Alternate Dispute Resolution Committee have given tremendous amounts of time and effort to expand alternate dispute resolution activities, particularly mediation, to the greatest extent possible.

Each year, the State Bar has sponsored a Basic Mediation Training Session and an Advanced Mediation Training Session where more than 600 different attorneys have received legal education about this area. It is a well received seminar where there is free admission, free Continuing Legal Education credit and a free lunch!

Several ADR Committee members have been stalwarts in serving as instructors and coaches at these events. They are:

Professor Tom Patrick - Morgantown
Priscilla Gay - Summersville
Debra Scudiere - Morgantown
Diane Fomari - Huntington
Michael Buchanan - Morgantown
Michael Aloi - Fairmont
Robert Steele - Clarksburg
James West - Clarksburg
Sandra Chapman - Wheeling
Susan Conner - Charleston
James Holland - Charleston
Dan Callaghan - Summersville
John Droppleman - West Union
Bill Wilmoth - Wheeling
The Supreme Court has been heavily involved in mediation matters with its support in Circuit Court cases, workers' compensation appeal cases at the Supreme Court, the Pilot Family Law Mediation Program in the Eastern Panhandle and the new mandatory family law mediation in Family Law Master cases. Several Circuit Court Judges have set up SWARM Programs where numbers of cases are mediated during a several day period. The success rate for these events has been 50% or greater. In addition, an ever increasing number of Circuit Court Judges require that there be a mediation before a case is set for trial.

State Government Administrative Agencies have picked up on the positive aspect of using mediation as part of their hearing process. Cases have been mediated before the West Virginia Human Rights Commission, the West Virginia Education and Government Employees.

Grievance Board, the West Virginia Department of Tax and Revenue and others. At the Federal Government level, the U.S. Postal Service has instituted its own version of alternate dispute resolution/mediation.

So, it is clear that alternate dispute resolution options, most particularly mediation, have become a significant activity in our legal system. It will do nothing but continue to grow in the future.