History of Mediation in Florida
by Sharon PressAs most lawyers and practitioners know, Florida has been nationally and internationally recognized as being on the "cutting edge" when it comes to mediation. Mediation has been utilized by the Florida Courts to resolve disputes for over 25 years, starting with the creation of the first citizen dispute settlement center in Dade County in 1975. In 1976 the first legislation on citizen dispute settlement was filed. Just one year later the Florida Supreme Court received a federal grant to establish a state-level office responsible for providing technical assistance, research and training to courts relating to citizen dispute settlement and other dispute resolution alternatives. In 1978 Florida Supreme Court Chief Justice Overton appointed the first Supreme Court Committee on Dispute Resolution Alternatives. That same year the Florida legislature enacted the first legislation on family mediation.
In 1981 the Supreme Court sponsored the first statewide Mediator Training Program in Orlando. Five years later the Florida Dispute Resolution Center was created and the first Circuit Civil Mediation Program began operating in Lee County. Then in 1988 the Florida legislature enacted one of the most comprehensive court-connected mediation programs in the country. This body of law gave circuit and county judges the authority to order most types of disputes to mediation. Statewide certification of mediators and the creation of rules of procedure for governing the process followed shortly thereafter-in 1990. Beginning in 1991, The Dispute Resolution Center began holding annual conferences to keep mediators up to date on critical developments in the field. By 1992 the Florida Supreme Court had established Standards of Conduct and Rules of Discipline for certified and court-appointed mediators. Boards were established to hear mediator grievances, revise mediation rules and to review mediator-training standards.
Both governors Chiles and Bush declared Mediation Day and Mediation Week in the State of Florida. Currently there are over 16,000 individuals that have completed the Supreme Court of Florida certified mediation-training programs. At the time of printing this article there are 5370 individuals certified as mediators in one, or a combination of, the following areas: county, family, circuit and dependency mediation. Most Florida courts have established their own mediation programs, with the assistance of government funding. Many continue to refer cases to private court certified mediators selected by the parties. Mediation has flourished in private enterprise with the increased use of mediation at an early phase of the dispute. Statistics reveal that anywhere from 75% to 85% of all cases settle at mediation and a great number more settle after the conclusion of the mediation, but as a result of the process itself.
Fortune 1000 companies, a number of which are headquartered in Florida have incorporated mediation into their grievance or dispute resolution processes. Some of these companies have trained their management and human resource personnel to mediate employee/employer disputes internally. Government agencies have now been mandated to implement their own internal dispute resolution programs, which also incorporate mediation as a core component.
There is no doubt that mediation has infiltrated Florida's legal system, along with being intertwined with corporate structure and the social fabric of Florida citizens. In Florida mediation is here to stay. The process may be molded and refined, mediators will be trained new skills and techniques, hybrid processes will develop, but the concept of third-party facilitation is one that will be forever ingrained in Florida's dispute resolution culture.
Excerpted from an Article by Sharon Press for the American College of Civil Trial Mediators, 2007. Ms. Press is the Director of the Dispute Resolution Center of Florida.