2021 Judicial Conference Program

May 2020:

The New Standards of Conduct, Competence , Shannon Baker, District Court ADR Office, guest speaker

June 2020:

The New Standards of Conduct, Confidentiality , Toby Treem Guerin, Center for Dispute Resolution, Maryland Carey Law (C-DRUM)

September 2020: The New Standards of Conduct, Quality and Integrity of the Process , Heather Fogg, MACRO October 2020: The New Standards of Conduct, Advertising and Solicitation , Jessica Markham, guest speaker

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Court of Special Appeals’ ADR Division cancelled the March 19, 2020, Advance Appellate Mediation Training for staff and senior judges. The training was rescheduled and conducted remotely through Zoom for Government on October 21, 2020. The focus of the training was negotiation techniques during mediation at the appellate level and the use of apology in mediation. The speaker for this training was Peter Robinson, Professor of Law, from Pepperdine University’s Caruso School of Law in California and former Managing Director of the Stratus Institute for Dispute Resolution, associated with the Caruso School of Law, where he also was a mediator. Additionally, MACRO’s biannual Maryland Mediators’ Convention scheduled for December 2020, was cancelled in light of the COVID-19 pandemic. Adult Guardianship Mediation Training This project was derived from the list of 25 recommendations made by the Domestic Law Committee in which it was recommended that ADR be used, when appropriate, in guardianship cases. The Judiciary-sponsored Adult Guardianship Mediation training was presented by two nationally recognized trainers, Zena Zumeta and Susan Butterwick of Michigan, on November 6,7, and 8, 2019. Twenty mediators from across Maryland attended the comprehensive and well-presented training. The caliber of the additional speakers fromMaryland on legal issues in adult guardianship, and working with aging, dementia, and disabilities in mediation also was outstanding. There was a great deal of enthusiasm for the training and for developing the practice area, and the trainees have formed a practice group to continue to grow referrals to mediation for these cases. A second training scheduled for May 2020 was postponed due to the pandemic but has been rescheduled for January 2021, as an online remote training. MACRO staff collaborated with Juvenile and Family Services staff to deliver and support the training. New Volunteer Mediator Orientations The District Court ADR Office hosts New Volunteer Mediator Orientations on a regular basis to support the continuity and expansion of Day of Trial ADR programs statewide and are held as often as six times annually. Orientation content includes ADR program policies and procedures, jurisdiction of the District Court, categories of cases appropriate for referral to ADR, courthouse etiquette, mediator ethics and standards of conduct, mediator apprentice process, expectations of volunteers, giving and receiving feedback, Day of Trial ADR forms, and best practices. During the reporting period, the ADR Office hosted one New Volunteer Mediator Orientation on March 13, 2020. Likewise, the District Court ADR Office hosted a Peace Order Mediator Orientation, in anticipation of initiating new Peace Order Mediation programs in Anne Arundel, Charles, Calvert, and St. Mary’s counties, and the expansion of Peace Order Mediation programs in Montgomery County to also include Silver Spring. Agenda content included: a review of the peace order statute, screening for party self-determination and potential safety concerns, role plays to practice screening interviews, case disposition and agreement writing, and peace order mediation best practices. During the reporting period, the ADR office hosted a Peace Order Mediator Orientation on December 4, 2019. ADR Trainers Meeting MACRO staff convened two meetings of mediation trainers from across the state via Zoom in early November 2020, to discuss topics such as remote mediation training, mentoring of newly trained mediators, and other quality assurance topics. ADR Committee staff participated, and the content of the meetings will support ongoing discussions of the ADR Committee’s Mediation Quality Assurance for Programs and Practitioners Work Group. Judiciary Internal ADR Resources Initiative The ADR Committee continued to be supportive of the effort to help all Judiciary locations with providing in-house ADR processes for internal Judiciary conflicts. During the reporting period, the three ADR Offices provided mediation and/or facilitation services in five disputes across the Judiciary.

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