County Mediation Matters |
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A Publication of the Administrative Office of the Court |
Volume 10, No. 6 December 2004 |
Judicial Changes
The newly elected judges in the county and circuit courts will assume their responsibilities beginning January 3, 2005. The County Mediation Program will miss Judge Ysleta McDonald when she moves from county to circuit court. We are fortunate, however, to welcome in her place Judge Walter Green who joins Judge Mary Day Coker as the other half of county court “team civil.”
A Note of Thanks
As always, the Eighth Judicial Circuit volunteers have come through like the champions that they are and helped to bring yet another Mediation Clinic to a successful conclusion. Thank you all for doing such a wonderful job mentoring the law students.
E-mail Spam Filter
The Eighth Circuit recently installed an e-mail filter to reduce the amount of spam received by employees. Please let us know if you experience any difficulty sending us e-mail. The new system may need to be adjusted in order to allow e-mail from your particular server.
Answers To Frequently Asked Questions
Q: How many cases do I have to mediate in order to be eligible for re-certification?
A: None. There is no requirement to mediate a single case in order to be re-certified as a county mediator. You only need to complete 16 credits of Continuing Mediator Education, including 4 credits of mediator ethics.
Confusion arises because a minimum number of mediations is required in order to register with the DRC as an Assistant Trainer. Assistant Trainers help with the county mediation trainings by critiquing the role play sessions. In order to sign up initially as an Assistant Trainer, one must have participated “in a minimum of 10 court-connected mediation conferences (or their equivalent) as the mediator with a minimum of four county court-connected mediation conferences as the mediator or as an observer within the last two years.” To re-certify as an Assistant Trainer, one must participate “in a minimum of five county court-connected mediation conferences as the mediator or as an observer within the last two years.”
Q: I was recently asked to mediate a county court case, but aren’t I only certified to mediate small claims cases?
A: As a certified county court mediator you are certified to mediate any case that falls under the jurisdiction of the county court. This includes small claims cases where the claim amount is up to $5,000, county civil cases where the claim amount is between $5,000 and $15,000 and evictions. Volunteers who mediate small claims cases are invited to sign a contract which will place them on the rotation list to mediate county court cases for a fee of $75 per case actually mediated.
Q: Why haven’t I been assigned a county case on rotation?
A: Parties who choose to use the program for their county mediation are first given the option to select their own mediator from the list of program mediators. If they can’t agree on a mediator or do not have a preference, we appoint a mediator from the list. The order of appointment is based upon the date of original certification; mediators who were certified 5 years ago will be contacted before mediators who were certified 2 years ago. If you are unavailable when we call, don’t worry! You won’t lose your “place in line”, and we will keep trying until you get a case. Once everyone has been assigned a case on rotation, we will start over at the top of the list.
Calendar
Please take note of the following important dates through the end of 2004:
December 16 |
Holiday Appreciation Luncheon |
December 17 |
No Court |
Thursday, December 23 |
Pretrials to be held on this Thursday instead of Friday |
December 24 |
Court Holiday - No Court |
December 31 |
Court Holiday - No Court |
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How to reach us:
Robin Davis, ADR Director Phone: 352-491-4417 Fax: 352-381-0109 E-Mail: rkd@circuit8.org |
Janet Hearn, Mediation Services Coordinator Phone: 352-491-4645 Fax: 352-381-0109 E-Mail: jkh@circuit8.org
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If you are a person with a disability who needs any accommodation in order to participate in county mediation proceedings you are entitled, at no cost to you, to the provision of certain assistance. Please contact the Court Administrator’s Office by phone at (352) 337-6237 or in person or in writing at 201 E. University Ave, Gainesville FL 32601 within 2 working days of your receipt of this newsletter; if you are hearing impaired, call (800) 955-8771; if you are voice impaired, call (800) 955-8770.