2021 Judicial Conference Program

Subcommittee members identified their areas of greatest interest, and it is anticipated that small sub-groups of the subcommittee will work to address the priorities in the coming year. Research and Grants Subcommittee The ADR Committee agreed that this subcommittee be sunset, noting that the research, data collection, and grant information would still be a core function of the committee itself. Work Group on Standards of Conduct for Mediators Maryland mediators were sometimes governed by two different and potentially conflicting sets of standards of conduct and creating a single set of standards for Maryland mediators is one of the ADR Committee projects on the Judicial Council’s Strategic Plan Checklist. The committee formed a work group to draft a new, single set of standards and instructed the work group to consider any revisions that might improve the standards, rather than limiting itself to reconciling the inconsistencies between the two current sets of standards. The work group comprised members of the ADR Committee, representatives from the three Judicial Branch ADR offices, and a nominee of each of Maryland’s four major ADR practitioner organizations. The ADR Committee also anticipated obtaining broader input about the draft from stakeholders before presenting new standards to the Judicial Council and/or the Court of Appeals for consideration. Work Group on Mediation Quality Assurance for Programs and Practitioners The District Court, circuit courts, and the Court of Special Appeals use mediation to assist parties in litigation reach mutually acceptable agreements. On December 6, 2019, the Court of Appeals adopted the Standards of Conduct for Mediators. As a result, the ADR Committee formed a work group and charged it with reviewing best practices for court-based ADR programs in Maryland, studying the issue of assessing mediation quality, and making recommendations based on its work and study. The work group is comprised of court administrators, ADR roster and programmanagers, and representatives from ADR practitioner organizations. In addition to its current tasks, the work group will assess the National Standards for Court-ConnectedMediation Programs created by the State Justice Institute, Center for Dispute Settlement and The Institute of Judicial Administration. Along with the ADR Committee, the work group will discuss strategies and recommendations to implement best practices to the court-basedmediation programas identified in the Courthouse Equity Subcommittee Report, Programs, Services and Access Baseline and Goals for All Circuit Courts. The work group sunset after adoption of the revised Mediators Standards of Conduct by the Court of Appeals.

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