Favoritism Frowned Upon

A Florida County Judge saw fit to refer hundreds of mediations to her former campaign adviser, resulting in discipline. Judge Claudia Robinson admitted steering some 80 percent of her pending cases to the same mediator, Michael Ahearn, an unpaid adviser on her 2014 mostly self-funded election campaign. Judge Robinson acknowledged she contravened judicial canons by “creating the appearance of impropriety and favoritism” in her dealings with her former political consultant. The Judicial Qualifications Commission (JQC) did not find that Robinson entered into a formal agreement to compensate Mediator Ahearn for his campaign services, which would have been illegal. In each case in which he was appointed, the parties involved had the right to reject his appointment in favor of another mediator. Ahearn actually worked on 174 of 296 cases the judge ordered into mediation, but was assigned to 245 as default mediator if the litigants did not choose an alternative within 10 days. The mediator charged $250-$300 per hour with a one-hour minimum. Ahearn testified he and the judge never agreed she would direct cases his way in exchange for his pro-bono campaign consulting work. Judge Robinson reportedly broadened the pool of mediators after a journalist broke the story. The news story by an investigative reporter also prompted an ethics complaint against the mediator, who denied any wrongdoing. The Florida Bar investigated those allegations and dismissed a bar complaint finding no inappropriate relationship between mediator and judge. The judge now faces a 30-day suspension without pay, based on the JQC’s recommended stipulation. The Florida Supreme Court now has the discretion to accept or reject the terms of the stipulation. See more here-- http://bit.ly/2ArGGWh and http://bit.ly/2AXJ9ch

FL Bar ADR Section Supports Mandatory Certification

Yesterday, the Executive Council of the ADR Section of The Florida Bar convened in Orlando at its winter meeting. Among the topics for discussion were proposed rules that will ultimately be considered by the ADR Rules & Policy Committee of The Supreme Court of Florida which asked for the section's input on the matter of mandatory certification for mediators in court cases. Two recommendations were made to ADR Rules & Policy that is likely to have its own language changes and submit for public comment before the Florida Supreme Court passes them. This effort was brought about after a survey of the ADR Section's members indicated the majority preferred using certified mediators and felt all people in Florida mediating cases for the courts should be required to follow the ethical rules. The rules address things like conflicts of interest, confidentiality, coercion, self-determination and other traditional hallmarks of the mediation process. The first proposal requires that professional standards would apply to non-certified mediators voluntarily selected or retained by the parties in the absence of a court order and applies to circuit and family cases. A second motion passed for requiring mandatory certification of mediators in filed cases retained or appointed by the court in the same divisions, with the exception of dependency. While these proposals are perhaps controversial in some circles, it was thought the ADR Rules & Policy Committee would act on this with or without the ADR Section's input. Therefore, the preference for rulemaking reflected by the section survey was formally expressed through these resolutions. Stay tuned for next steps. See court committee link here-- http://bit.ly/2jmRTv0 and section link here-- http://bit.ly/2jmPlxa

Airline Antitrust Mediation

The U.S. Justice Department agreed to go to mediation along with American Airlines and US Airways to try and resolve the government’s lawsuit seeking to block the proposed merger of the two airlines. The case is headed to trial this month in federal court. The parties agreed to a mediator “suggested by the court,” which is a bit unusual. The Justice Department contends the planned merger would create the world’s largest airline, thereby reducing competition and leading to higher fares. U.S. District Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly, who presided over the Microsoft antitrust case, is overseeing the litigation and has said in prior orders that she encourages the use of alternative dispute resolution. Though American has been in bankruptcy for two years, the parent company AMR was set to exit court protection by merging with US Airways when the federal government and a group of states sued to block the deal. If the U.S. prevails in stopping the merger, it has been reported that re-organization will have to start anew, causing disruption among creditors. See more at http://bit.ly/1axsR2f and in case 13-cv-01236 U.S. v. US Airways Group, Inc., U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia.