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Seventh Judicial Circuit Court
Genesee County
Flint, MI 48502
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Information: ADR Clerk
900 S. Saginaw St.
205 West
Flint, MI
48502
810.257-3252
The Court's mediation program is governed by MCR 2.410, 2.411 and 3.216 and Local Administrative Order 2003-6J re: Alternative Dispute Resolution Plan.
In 2000, the Mediation Office changed its name to the Alternative Dispute Resolution Office. This office has two component programs: case evaluation and mediation.
Case Evaluation
The case evaluation office was created in 1977 pursuant to a local court rule that established mediator selection, scheduling and filing protocols. Presently this office is governed by the court rule requirements of MCR 2.403 and MCR 2.404. Cases seeking money damages are referred to case evaluation. The panel is comprised of 3 attorneys and/or judges. The ADR Clerk assigns panels, schedules cases and processes the fees and briefs submitted by parties.
Case evaluation fees are $25.00 per attorney evaluator. Checks should be made directly payable to the attorney evaluators. Fess should be submitted to the ADR Clerk 14 days after receiving notice of the hearing date.
Case evaluation briefs are due 14 days before a scheduled heating. Parties are assessed a late filing fee in the amount of $150.00 if briefs are not filed timely. Late briefs should be delivered directly to the evaluators. All late fee checks should be made payable to the Genesee County Treasurer.
Case Evaluation hearings are held in the ADR hearing room in the law library. Parties have 28 days to accept or reject an award. If all parties accept the award, the case is considered settled. If one party rejects the award the case proceeds to settlement conference or trial.
Attorneys who wish to serve as evaluators must complete an application and submit it to the ADR Clerk. Annually, an application review committee meets and reviews submitted applications.
The case evaluator application may be downloaded from the Michigan Supreme Court’s website.
Mediation is a process in which the parties work with a trained neutral to reach an acceptable resolution to the issues involved. Unlike a judicially imposed resolution, the parties seek to find common ground and forge a voluntary settlement. The job of the mediator is help the parties communicate with each other and find mutually beneficial solutions. MCR 2.410, 2.411 and 3.216, governs mediation.
In 2004, the Court began referring selected civil cases to mediation. Generally, cases are ordered into mediation during the pre-trial phase. Parties are given 14 days to select a mutually agreeable mediator. If the parties cannot agree, the court appoints a mediator from its roster of approved civil mediators.
Mediation must be completed by the discovery deadline. Mediators are required to contact the parties, schedule a mutually agreeable time to conduct mediation and notify the court of the date. Upon completion of mediation, a Mediation Status Report form must be filed with the ADR Clerk. Cases that are not resolved in mediation are set for case evaluation.
In conjunction with the local Community Resolution Center (CRC), a motion day domestic relations pilot program has been ongoing in the courtroom of Judge David Newblatt. The purpose of this program is to educate judges, lawyers and the public about the benefits of domestic relations mediation.
In November 2004 a local administrative order was crafted that submits 30 post judgment parenting time disputes cases to the CRC. The Friend of the Court is providing program assistance to this project.
List of Domestic Relations Mediators
Domestic Relations Mediator Application
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Disclaimer
Last updated:
09/21/2009
