The Judiciary is committed to promoting the appropriate use of mediation
and other forms of ADR as a means of resolving disputes and conflicts.
Alternative dispute resolution (ADR) is an umbrella term for processes
that resolve conflict peacefully and promote creative win-win solutions.
ADR processes include: mediation, community conferencing, arbitration,
settlement conferences, early neutral case evaluation, and consensus
building. In mediation, a trained neutral person, a “mediator,”
helps people in a dispute to communicate and understand each other,
and if possible, to reach an agreement that satisfies the participants’
needs.
Mediation and other ADR processes are available in most courts.
Court of Special Appeals: The Court of Special Appeals offers alternative dispute resolution services via its Prehearing Conference program, which includes prehearing conference and mediation. For more information, see http://mdcourts.gov/cosappeals/mediation/index.html.
Circuit Courts:
All circuit courts have family mediation programs for custody and
visitation cases. Some circuit courts also have mediation programs
for marital property issues in divorce cases and for other kinds of
civil cases such as contract cases, personal injury cases, employment
cases, etc.
District Court: The
District Court offers alternative dispute resolution programs for
cases filed in that court, and all programs are free to participants.
For more information, see the District Court's ADR web site.
For more information about what services are available in your county,
both within and beyond the courts, call MACRO, the Judiciary's
Mediation and Conflict Resolution Office at 410-260-3540 or visit
its website, http://www.marylandmacro.org.
