Originally from Alternatives to the High Cost of Litigation

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On the surface, it might seem that a court automatically sending cases to mediation is an oxymoron. Self-determination— including determining whether to mediate—is often thought of as an essential aspect of the mediation process.

It turns out, however, that at least for the mediation programs operated by New York’s federal district courts, automatically sending cases to mediation—or, in one revealing instance, arbitration is quite successful in resolving large numbers of cases with little judicial input or oversight.

This article will provide an overview of the data relating to court-annexed mediation programs in those courts. It is updated from a 2017 presentation at the New York State Bar Association’s Annual Meeting before the association’s Dispute Resolution Section, and is revised from a version that appeared in the Spring 2018 New York Dispute Resolution Lawyer, which is published by the N.Y. State Bar Association (available for members at http:// bit.ly/2VHZs3c). This update provides recent data, and further confirms the conclusions put forth in the earlier version.