THE 20TH JUDICIAL CIRCUIT OF FLORIDA

ADR Program Successfully Diverts Cases to Mediation

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Sheila Mann
Court Operations Manager
Communications
(239) 533-1723

Alternative Dispute Resolution Program Successfully Diverts Cases To Mediation

On February 4, 2008, the Administrative Office of the Courts for the Twentieth Judicial Circuit released its Alternative Dispute Resolution Program’s 2007 annual report. The report outlines the various types, and numbers of cases that participate in mediation or dispute resolution, as well as, describes how the program functions in the different counties of the 20 th Judicial Circuit: Charlotte, Collier, Hendry, Glades and Lee Counties.

The report provides information as to workload, staffing and costs to run the program. Also, included are statistics per county and for the circuit. Lee County handles the largest volume of cases in the 20 th Judicial Circuit with 3,794 cases participating in mediation.

Overall, the ADR program provided 5,568 mediations in 2007. Two-thirds of these were resolved successfully- saving the Court judicial time and money; and saving the parties time, money and the added stress of court proceedings.