2021 Judicial Conference Program

work group will move to the remaining case categories: civil, dependency, family, juvenile, probate, and traffic & local ordinance. The NODS work group continued to meet remotely every two weeks during the COVID-19 health emergency. The working sessions are held remotely using Skype for Business and Microsoft Teams. The group shared screens and navigated through the MDEC system allowing for all members to view where the data resided in MDEC and allowed for open discussions. Landlord Tenant Bulk Filing Work Group The work group continues to work through challenges to optimize the bulk filing solution. In addition, there are several policy issues that must be addressed in order to establish a business process. The goal for next year is to install an intermediate user interface for filers and for a soft go-live to allow e-filing service providers to file. A six-month pilot period will be requested so that the process can be evaluated and business processes altered as deemed necessary. Online Dispute Resolution Work Group The ODR Work Group monitors the development of court connected ODR initiatives and develops recommendations about possible ODR projects in the Maryland Judiciary. ODR takes many shapes and can be a broad term encompassing any application of technology to create online space to resolve disputes. The interaction between parties to resolve the disputes varies greatly depending on the ODR platform design, provider, case type, and jurisdiction. The work group was approved by the MPC during its March 3, 2020, meeting, at which an internal paper titled Online Dispute Resolution Preliminary Research and Critical Issues was presented. This initial report provided a detailed look at how courts across the U.S. and in a few other countries have launched ODR programs and initiatives in recent years. The work group was tasked with developing and analyzing options for ODR projects in the following areas, in order of priority: (1) non- incarcerable traffic cases, (2) small claims, and (3) child support enforcement. The work group held its first meeting in early April 2020, toward the start of the COVID-19 health emergency, which greatly enhanced interest in all kinds of remote proceedings while requiring mediators and other dispute resolution practitioners to shift their practices to online platforms. The work group studied many systems in depth and presented to the MPC on June 3 and August 18 a vision for ODR systems for appropriate traffic cases and small claims disputes. The work group discussed the increased importance of online processes during the health emergency. Work group members discussed ways in which mediators and other dispute resolution practitioners were transitioning their practices online. With community-based mediation centers and private practitioners turning to online platforms for mediation and accepting court referrals, the work group recognized that some ODR initiatives had already started out of necessity within the Judiciary. Recognizing the increased importance of online platforms to sustain programs and the delivery of services, the work group accelerated its schedule while monitoring ODR developments in other jurisdictions as demand for remote services increased during the global pandemic. Based on priorities set by the MPC, the work group established two separate subgroups: one to review and develop options for non-incarcerable traffic cases, and one for small claims. Both subgroups worked to create a vision and map out processes for the ideal use of ODR in their respective areas. Visions, plans, workflow designs, policy and legal considerations, and identified requirements from both subgroups were included in work group presentations to the MPC. The vision for ODR in traffic cases is an online adjudicative model; the vision for small claims is one that includes negotiation and mediation/settlement conference components, helping to help advance alternative dispute resolution work already ongoing in the District Court. The work group is finalizing its system requirements, scheduling additional system demonstrations, and planning to issue a request for proposal for potential ODR systems before the end of 2020.

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