The ADR in the Courts Committee,
chaired by Stephen A. Hochman and Robert Rubin, has set an ambitious agenda to
improve the court-annexed mediation programs in both the State and Federal
courts. One focus will be to increase the number of cases
sent to mediation, either by court order or voluntarily, by various means,
including educating members of the bar and the judiciary as to the advantages of
mediation and other ADR processes and organizing a network of practitioners
around the State to work with their local judges on increasing the utilization
of mediation services. Another focus will be to improve the
methods of administrating the court-annexed programs in order to deal with the
anticipated increased demand for mediators, including the process by which
mediators are selected to accommodate the needs and preferences of the
litigants.
The Committee coordinates and
consults regularly with Dan Weitz, Director of ADR for the New York State Office
of Court Administration and other court representatives involved in the ADR
programs. The Committee has also met with Hon. Loretta A.
Preska, Chief Judge of the United States District Court for the Southern
District of New York, as well as Hon. Sherry Klein Heitler, the Administrative
Judge for Civil Matters in the First Judicial District of the New York State
Supreme Court, and will continue to coordinate with them to improve their
mediation programs
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