The Consumer Affairs Mediation Center of the Nebraska attorney general’s office handled over 4,100 complaints and recovered almost $1 million for consumers in 2008. With fifteen full-time staff members, the Nebraska Mediation Center also helps consumers avoid scams and sends consumers on to counsel in the attorney general’s office if the circumstances warrant litigation. Similarly, in Iowa, the Consumer Protection Division of the Iowa attorney general’s office obtained benefits of over $1.3 million for consumers in 2008.

Lincoln Journal Star(January 4, 2009) (Subscription Required); Omaha World-Herald (January 23, 2009) (Subscription Required)

Intense mediation efforts between the city government leaders of Timnath and Fort Collins resulted in a comprehensive agreement resolving pending litigation over annexation and land-grab issues, as well as a number of other tensions and past disputes between the cities. The agreement, which still must be ratified by both city councils, adjusts each city’s growth management area and includes provisions to roll back prior annexations if desired.

ReporterHerald.com (CO) (January 16, 2009)

The Texas Department of Insurance is considering a mediation program to help resolve claims resulting from Hurricane Ike last September, which resulted in about $10 billion in damages and more than 750,000 insurance claims. While about 60-80 percent of the claims have been settled, the Department of Insurance has received some 2,000 complaints and expects more. The Department is looking to hurricane mediation programs in other states as models and hopes to have a proposal ready for the state legislature in January.

AM Best Newswire (December 30, 2008) (Subscription Required)

• Connecticut’s foreclosure mediations have saved the homes of about 360 homeowners in the past five months, but the mediation program is reaching less than 30 percent of those eligible. The governor has proposed making the mediation program mandatory for all homeowners facing foreclosure. Mediators in the program report that lenders were initially skeptical, but are now willing to participate and actively negotiate solutions. Hartford Business (December 8, 2008)
• New Jersey has enacted foreclosure prevention legislation which allocates $12 million for additional mediation and counseling through the Housing and Mortgage Finance Agency, and $500,000 for state courts to provide mediation services to homeowners facing foreclosure, Bizjournals.com (December 1, 2008)
• In order to implement the New Jersey Residential Foreclosure Mediation Program, the state Supreme Court has relaxed several court rules, including minimum requirements for mediators in the program. New Jersey Law Journal (November 24, 2008) (Subscription Required); New Jersey Foreclosure Mediation Information and Forms
• Wisconsin is considering legislation that would require lenders to offer mediation to homeowners before proceeding with foreclosure. Milwaukee Journal Sentinel (December 12, 2008)
• Legislation modeled on the 1986 Farmer-Lender Mediation Act is proposed in Minnesota to curb home foreclosures by giving homeowners the right to request mediation in an effort to renegotiate their mortgage terms with lenders. Bizjournals.com (November 21, 2008)

The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission reported a 15 percent increase in job bias charges last year, for a total of over 95,000 private sector filings in fiscal year 2008. Its National Mediation Program obtained nearly 9,000 resolutions in FY 2008, a 2% increase for the year. In addition to non-monetary relief, the EEOC recovered $124 million for complainants through mediation. The mediation program maintains its very high user satisfaction rate of 96.5 percent. Employers continue to enter into Universal Agreements to Mediate with the EEOC, with the total rising by 14 percent during 2008, to 1,450. In its Federal Sector Mediation Program, the EEOC noted that parties in over 18,000 EEO cases in federal agencies participated in alternative dispute resolution, which was nearly half of all cases.

National Underwriter Property & Casualty (December 8, 2008) (Subscription Required); EEOC FY2008 Performance Report

Missouri’s attorney general recovered $9.5 million for consumers through mediation in 2008, exceeding the previous mediation record, plus an additional $6 million through civil and criminal litigation. The attorney general’s office handled about 120,000 contacts from consumers during 2008, including over 40,000 formal complaints.

US State News (December 30, 2008) (Subscription Required)

Luzerne County, Pennsylvania has implemented a mandatory mediation program for property owners who wish to challenge their property assessments following a formal appeal. The county is reassessing all property in the county for first time since 1965, so expects a large number of challenges, but is relying on the specialty courts director as the sole mediator. Over 850 mediations have already been filed, which may take the single mediator until June, and nearly 8,000 additional appeal board rulings have not yet been received by property owners. The first four settlements in the mediation program have been reached, with assessment reductions ranging from ten to twenty percent. If mediation is not successful, the challenge proceeds to a three-person arbitration panel, then to a special master, and finally to the county court.

Times Leader (November 7, 2008); The Citizens’ Voice (November 14, 2008) (Subscription Required); The Times Leader (November 20, 2008) (Subscription Required); The Times Leader(December 11, 2008) (Subscription Required)

The Internal Revenue Service has begun a two-year test of a post-Appeals mediation program, along with an arbitration program. The programs are available in specified Appeals offices for Offer in Compromise and Trust Fund Recovery Penalty cases. Either the taxpayer or Appeals may request mediation. While the taxpayer may decline Appeals’ request for mediation, Appeals must evaluate taxpayer requests according to established regulations.

IRS.gov (December 1, 2008)

Large companies, insurers, government agencies and courts are all moving towards greater reliance on mediation. For example, Toro Co. has resolved 1,400 products liability claims since launching its mediation program in the early 1990s, and has not taken a case to trial since 1994, resulting in a drop in total costs per claim from $115,000 to $43,000. About two-thirds of the Toro claims are resolved directly by claims coordinators, with the remaining third being resolved in mediation. Similarly, after Hurricane Katrina, Zurich Insurance created a new Alternative Dispute Resolution program with a multi-step process that moved from direct negotiation between the insurance representative and policyholder, to mediation, and finally binding arbitration. Out of 20,000 claims against Zurich, 98% have been resolved, with only about 100 reaching and being settled through mediation, and none going to arbitration. Zurich may make its ADR process permanent. While courts are increasingly requiring mediation, some court programs are seeing a decrease in settlements, which is attributed to litigants going directly to private mediators or seeking mediation prior to filing suit.

Chicago Lawyer (July 9, 2008) (Subscription Required)

New regulations adopted by the Connecticut Office of Ombudsman for Property Rights provide that mediation can be requested by property owners dissatisfied with the compensation offered in eminent domain proceedings or by occupants concerned about the assistance offered when forced to move due to eminent domain. The Ombudsman determines whether or not to grant a mediation request, and if granted, public agencies may be required to cooperate and participate in the mediation.

RegAlert (July 8, 2008) (Subscription Required)

After a 74-acre commercial project was blocked by the Columbia (MO) City Council, the developer entered into mediation with two neighborhood associations and, after nearly a month of negotiations, agreed to add a layer of restrictions on the development, which was sufficient to obtain City Council approval. The developer concluded that the mediation process improved plans for the development, but one of the neighborhood association leaders expressed frustration by the confidentiality of the mediation process when dealing with community issues.

Columbia Daily Tribune (August 19, 2008); Columbia Daily Tribune (August 17, 2008); Columbia Daily Tribune(July 11, 2008) (Subscription Required)

A federal court upheld the “plain meaning” of settlements reached in the Mississippi hurricane mediation program which released any and all Katrina claims except for subsequent discovery of “additional insured damage.” The Scruggs Katrina Group filed some 200 nearly identical complaints alleging a conspiracy of fraud and bad faith that it asserted as grounds for additional insured damages. The court, however, found that the phrase could only mean additional property damage, but left open the record in case plaintiff’s new substitute counsel wished to submit affidavits showing newly discovered property damage.

Boyd v. State Farm, No. 1:07CV820 (S.D. Miss., Aug. 6, 2008)

New Michigan legislation authorizes the Michigan Tax Tribunal to mediate appeals of agency decisions, if the parties agree to mediation and select a certified mediator. The Tribunal will establish a process for creating a roster of certified mediators, who must have five years of tax experience in the previous seven years. The Tribunal may charge mediators an annual certification fee, as well as charging parties a fee for mediation. Mediators must disclose their rates and experience to parties, and report the results of mediations to the Tribunal.

Michigan H. 4433 (Enacted May 8, 2008)