Orange County ODR Pilot Program

Today at the Orange County Bar Association's Judicial Relations Committee meeting, it was announced that Small Claims parties in the Ninth Judicial Circuit Court Court will soon be able to utilize an online dispute resolution (ODR) program for a total cost of $25. The vendor, Tyler Technologies, is already known to court administration because of its Odyssey case management system license. This add-on service uses Modria software which was acquired by Tyler after success demonstrated in resolving business to consumer e-commerce transactions. Chief Judge Myers said the first 1,396 mediation cases would be handled at no cost to the court. Since 1992, there has been a $15,000 limit on damages in civil suits filed on the county court level. With the recent bill signed by Governor DeSantis increasing the small claims amount in controversy limit to $30,000 come January 1, 2020, the county judges are preparing for how to handle more volume. The limit goes even higher-- to $50,000 by January 1, 2022. The $15,000 limit remains in place for cases filed before December 31, 2019. The plan, according to a representative at the Orange County Clerk's office, is to roll something out this fall. ODR is touted as helping individuals resolve legal cases without having to set foot in a courtroom. The concept is a simple back and forth online negotiation replaces the need to appear or take time off work to spend time in a government building. See legislation here-- https://bit.ly/2LnnAH7 and current programs here-- https://bit.ly/2JNvXbI