The Mediation Program began in 1996 when the Stark County Court of Common Pleas, General Division, was selected by the Supreme Court of Ohio as one of three courts to develop a pilot mediation program. The Supreme Court provided grant funding to the Court of Common Pleas to institute a mediation program for civil cases pending in the General Division. With this grant funding, the Court hired an experienced trial lawyer to serve as a mediator, providing 20-25 hours per week of mediation services. From the outset, the Mediation program has been an unqualified success in resolving cases; and based on this success, a second experienced trial lawyer was hired to provide the Court with full-time mediation coverage. Currently mediations are conducted five days a week by three different mediators. Since grant funding from the Supreme Court ended after a three-year period, the program has been entirely supported by civil case filing fees. As a result, the program is supported without cost to the taxpayer and there is no additional cost to the litigants for their case to be mediated
Litigants can request mediation of their case or the assigned Judge can refer it to mediation. With the exception of Foreclosure cases, virtually all civil cases have been eligible for referral to mediation. Mediation is a non-binding process involving a neutral mediator who assists the parties and their lawyers in achieving a mutually acceptable settlement of their case. The mediator does not decide who is right or wrong. The mediator does not force the parties to reach agreement or to accept particular settlement terms. Mediations are conducted under both the Ohio Uniform Mediation Act, contained in section 2710.01 et seq. of the Ohio Revised Code, and Rule 16 of the Local Rules of Court for the Stark county Court of Common Pleas. These rules hold that the session is confidential, and there can be no disclosure of any “mediation communication” except in certain clearly defined circumstances. As a method of Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR), mediation brings the parties together in an effort to achieve a resolution of the case by mutual agreement. There are several potential benefits when a case is successfully mediated. Benefits include shorter case processing time and fewer expenses than would be incurred at trial. There is generally greater participant satisfaction and perception of fairness with the mediation process.
In 2010, there were 735 cases referred to the Mediation Program. Of those, 128 cases (17.4%) settled prior to the mediation session. There were a total of 362 cases that were mediated and 332 of those cases (91.7%) settled at the mediation session or subsequent to it. There were only 24 mediated cases (6.6%) that went to trial.
The Mediation Program is located in the Stark County Courthouse. Participants report to the Administrative Office on the fourth floor.
Staff
The Court employs three experienced attorneys on a part-time basis and a full-time administrative assistant