Program History
In 1991, the General Assembly authorized a pilot program of pre-trial, court-ordered mediated settlement conferences for civil cases filed in Superior Court. The new program was charged with facilitating the settlement of superior court civil actions and with making civil litigation more economical, efficient, and satisfactory to litigants and the public. Eight pilot judicial districts were designated and the pilot sites became operational beginning in late1991 or early 1992. The North Carolina Bar Association was instrumental in encouraging the establishment of the new Program and raised grant funds to support its operations during the pilot period.
The pilot operated through October of 1995, when the General Assembly adopted N.C. Gen. Stat. §7A-38.1, authorizing statewide expansion of the Mediated Settlement Conference Program. Statewide expansion began in earnest in January of 1996, and by the beginning of 1997, the Program was operating statewide. The goals the General Assembly set for the statewide program remain the same as were set for the pilot.
In November of 2002, the Program's Rules were revised to establish a dispute resolution menu in superior court. WIth the establishment of that menu, parties may now select among a number of dispute resolution processes to which their case may be referred, including: mediated settlement, neutral evalution, arbitration, and summary jury trial. If the parties do not select one of the other options, their case will be referred to mediated settlement.
Program Summary
Pursuant to N.C. Gen. Stat. §7A-38.1 and the North Carolina Supreme Court's Rules Implementing Mediated Settlement Conferences (MSC Rules), a Senior Resident Superior Court Judge in any district may order parties in any civil action to attend a pre-trial mediated settlement conference or, with the parties' consent, one of the other settlement procedures provided for in MSC Rules. The only cases excluded are actions in which a party is seeking the issuance of an extraordinary writ or is appealing the revocation of a motor vehicle operator's license.
The Mediated Settlement Conference Program is designed as a "party pay" program in that the parties, and not the court or the taxpayers, compensate the mediator or other neutral. In turn, since they are paying the fees, parties are given an opportunity to select their mediator or other neutral. Parties ordered to participate in mediated settlement must choose a mediator certified by the Dispute Resolution Commission. If the parties cannot agree on who shall conduct their conference or take no action to select a mediator, the Senior Resident Superior Court Judge will appoint a certified mediator to conduct the conference. The mediator is responsible for scheduling the conference and for finding a location where it can take place. Conferences are normally held in the courthouse, the office of the mediator, or the office of one of the attorneys involved in the case.
The mediator serves as a facilitator only, focusing the parties' discussions and brainstorming with them in a search for settlement options. Following a successful mediation, the agreement will be reduced to writing and the court notified that the case has settled. If mediation is not successful, the mediator will report an impasse to the court and the case will proceed to trial. Many times, cases which impasse at mediation go on to settle in the coming weeks as parties and their attorneys continue the discussion begun in mediation.
Program Costs
Because it is "party pay", the Mediated Settlement Conference Program is designed to operate at no expense to the taxpayers. In the event that a party is determined to be indigent, certified mediators must offer their services to that party at no cost. While some minimal court time is involved in administering the program, cases referred to mediation settle earlier than they would otherwise leading to time savings elsewhere.