Bankruptcy

Alternative Dispute Resolution in a Bankruptcy Court: The Mediation Program in the Southern District of California

STEVEN HARTWELL AND GORDON BERMANT. FEDERAL JUDICIAL CENTER, 1988.
Comparison None	Variables Cost and time Participant experience	Key Findings Attorneys believed that mediation saved time and money Cases thought to be amenable to mediation involved small amounts of money, had limited issues, and had not undergone extensive discovery

STEVEN HARTWELL AND GORDON BERMANT. FEDERAL JUDICIAL CENTER, 1988.

Comparison

None

Variables

Cost and time
Participant experience

Key Findings

Attorneys believed that mediation saved time and money
Cases thought to be amenable to mediation involved small amounts of money, had limited issues, and had not undergone extensive discovery

Description
Study looking at judge and attorney attitudes toward the mediation program, including whether mediation saved their clients time and money.

Method
Interviewed judges, court clerk, mediators, and lawyers. Examined case files of all cases sent to mediation over 15 months.

Sample Size
80 cases

Program Variables
The program was voluntary, with cases referred by the judge. Mediators were volunteers who were experienced bankruptcy attorneys with no mediation training; attorneys chose the mediator. The program had been newly established at the time of the study. The mediation process used was evaluative, with parties present only at the opening statement.

Full Findings
Attorneys believed that mediation saved their and their clients' time and saved their clients money. The mediation program was found to move proceedings off the pretrial status conference calendars. Cases attorneys thought to be amenable to mediation were those involving small amounts of money, cases with limited issues that dealt with fact, and cases in which extensive discovery had not yet been done.