Florida Mediation Reporting Rule Comments Due 3/31

The Supreme Court of Florida's Committee on Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) Rules and Policy is seeking comments on proposed revisions to the Florida Rules of Civil Procedure, the Florida Small Claims Rules, the Florida Rules of Juvenile Procedure, the Florida Rules of Appellate Procedure, and the Florida Family Law Rules of Procedure. These rules are revised to include subdivisions entitled Report of Mediation and Adjournment for Further Mediation, which are intended to compliment and clarify the scope of Rule 10.360(e), Reporting Outcome, and Rule 10.360(f), Presence, Florida Rules for Certified and Court-Appointed Mediators. With these changes, after an initial mediation session, a mediator could report agreement, no agreement, partial agreement, or adjournment for further mediation. No other descriptors, modifiers, comments, or recommendations may be included in the report unless all parties consent in writing. However, nothing in the amendment prohibits the mediator from identifying the parties, counsel, and participants present at the mediation and whether present physically or by communication technology. In a mediation involving more than two parties, a mediator may now report agreement or partial agreement as to any parties who agree and no agreement as to the other parties. The proposed revisions to the Florida Rules of Civil Procedure, the Florida Small Claims Rules, and the Florida Rules of Appellate Procedure also contain a subdivision entitled Status Reports in response to recent civil case management rules adopted by the Florida Supreme Court that have changed the way lawsuits are handled in state court with more of a federal-style scheduling track. Comments to the ADR Rules and Policy Committee should be made care of the Florida Dispute Resolution Center at: drcmail@flcourts.org on or before Monday, March 31, 2025, at 5:00 p.m. EDT. See more on the proposed language here-- https://tinyurl.com/4yj3cv5x

Speaking at 2025 UCF Mediation Tournament

This month, I am invited back to speak at University of Central Florda Downtown Orlando Campus during an international mediation tournament hosted by UCF's competition mediation team which I once coached. UCF’s Mediation Team, part of the Department of Legal Studies in the College of Community Innovation and Education, competes in mediation tournaments with students from across the globe through the International Academy of Dispute Resolution (INADR). This organization aims to build worldwide recognition of the power of dispute resolution processes to peacefully resolve conflicts and promote conciliation. I will appear Friday afternoon, February 7th at Dr. Phillips Academic Commons where about fifty undergraduates from around the country and a few from outside the US are expected to attend. I plan to address the importance of the language of mediation. The event gives students the opportunity to experience what it is like to be a mediator, acting as an attorney with a client, with an emphasis on advocacy and education. The teams are then judged for their work by experienced mediators. Experience the art of conflict resolution as student teams compete to simulate real-world mediations between disputing parties. The closing awards ceremony is open to the public and will take place in DPAC-106A. See more here-- https://events.ucf.edu/event/3620288/ucf-mediation-tournament and https://inadr.org/calendar/registration-now-open-university-of-central-florida-conciliator-mediation-tournament/

Orlando Mediator is #4 in 2025!

Over the past 15 years, I have tried to bring awareness to the profession of Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) through blogging about mediation, arbitration and other forms of acting as a neutral online. Once again, my little Orlando Mediator blog received the honor of being named in the top five among dispute resolution blogs out of the 50 best ranked on the web by traffic, social media followers, domain authority and freshness. I'm maintaining some good company on this list with established dispute resolution blogs around the world that actually have paid professional writers. Orlando Mediator is recognized by Feedspot along with such distinguished blogs published by big names like Kluwer and even above those by prominent ADR organizations like the American Arbitration Association (AAA), The Chartered Institute of Arbitrators (Ciarb) and International Institute for Conflict Prevention & Resolution (CPR). Feedspot's experts chose Orlando Mediator as number four in the world for what their founder calls the most comprehensive list of Dispute Resolution Blogs on the planet! Feedspot says it is the internet’s largest human curated database of bloggers and podcasts. Their list combines RSS feeds allowing users to keep track of many different websites in a single news aggregator. I am humbled again to know this labor of love for my chosen field is appreciated. I do enjoy keeping everyone informed on the latest trends and happenings in mediation and related fields through this outlet. Thanks again for your readership and support since 2010! The full list is available here--https://bloggers.feedspot.com/dispute_resolution_blogs/