Welcome to RSI's Resource Center, the most comprehensive and respected source of information on court ADR available anywhere. In the Resource Center, you will find a variety of helpful guides, models and tools to help you answer questions and solve issues related to your use of court ADR.

ADR: From Basics to Advanced Insights 

Are you new to the world of court ADR or looking to expand your understanding of its various forms and functions? Start with our Court ADR Basics pages. There, you will learn more about the different types of alternative dispute resolution that exist, and why and how they are used.

Then, when you're ready to dig in deeper, we suggest you visit RSI's Guide to Court ADR Program Success (GPS, if you will!). RSI "wrote the book" on how to design, manage and evaluate successful court ADR programs, and this is it. If you are responsible for a court ADR program or want to design a new court ADR program, this step-by-step guide is a key tool. 

To delve even further into various topics related to court ADR, including program or practitioner questions, head over to our Special Topics pages, where you will find further resources and in-depth examinations on various aspects of court ADR. Special topics highlighted in the section include Child Protection Mediation; Community Mediation; Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Accessibility; Eviction Mediation; Foreclosure Mediation; Online Dispute Resolution; and Restorative Justice. 

Reviewing and Gathering Mediation Data

Seeking reliable research to back up your decision-making on court mediation? Our Mediation Efficacy Studies section summarizes the findings of nearly 100 court-related mediation program evaluations to shed light on the conditions in which court mediation can save time and money and enable participants to experience procedural justice. RSI Director of Research Jennifer Shack brought her extensive experience studying court ADR to curate, categorize and summarize reliable studies on court ADR and present their findings. 

When you need to gather quality data about your own court ADR program, look to our Model Surveys. Working together with a committee of national experts and the American Bar Association Section of Dispute Resolution, we created a series of surveys that enable courts to collect data from parties, attorneys and mediators about the quality and outcome of mediation. The surveys also include guidance on how best to use and adapt them. 

Finally, for guidance on assessing and strengthening the skills of mediators in your program, check out our Model Tools for Mediator Peer Review. Included are a peer review policy, a mediator observation tool and a self-reflection tool for mediators.

More Tools for Programs and Practitioners

RSI's Mediation Power Imbalance Toolkit (Tips for Managing Power Imbalances Between Landlord Attorneys and Tenants in Eviction Mediation) is another useful tool for mediators and those who train them. Although its guidance is geared toward eviction mediations, it is largely applicable to any mediation involving an attorney on one side and a self-represented individual on the other. The toolkit provides tips on recognizing and addressing specific power imbalance issues as they occur during mediation. 

The goal of RSI's ODR Party Engagement Project (OPEN) is to help courts communicate effectively about their online dispute resolution (ODR) programs — and its lessons are applicable in a wide variety of contexts beyond ODR. The free, downloadable tools on our OPEN microsite include a guide for courts on communicating effectively about ODR, a document preparation worksheet and checklist, and a series of model communication materials that can help you create or enhance documents, webpages and videos to communicate more effectively with anyone accessing ADR services, including self-represented litigants and people with low literacy.

If you have a question about mediation or ODR that you need answered, or would like to discuss how to partner with RSI on an ADR or ODR project, whether you would like support on research and evaluation, program administration or program design, please reach out to us! We would love to connect!