The San Diego County Bar Foundation has awarded Thomas Jefferson School of Law a $10,000 grant to fund the school's mediation program, which allows law students to mediate disputes in East County Small Claims Court.
"I'm very pleased to receive this grant because of the benefits of mediation to court litigants," said Ellen Waldman, a law professor at Thomas Jefferson and the director of the program. "It shows mediation has come of age."
Under the program, law students serve as mediators in small claims disputes two days a week at the East County Courthouse. According to Waldman, roughly 100 to 150 cases are mediated each semester and 85 percent of the cases are settled.
She adds the mediation process also has a positive impact on both parties when the cases do wind up in court -- making the cases easier to adjudicate.
"Another benefit of the program," Waldman said, "is that it relieves the Superior Court's crowded calendar and allows room for cases (that) really need judicial intervention."
Working in conjunction with San Diego Superior Court to ensure adequate training, supervised mediations will take place at the East County Regional Center in a casual environment where litigants can come to a mutually agreed upon resolution, rather than subject their disputes to the formal adjudicatory process.
"It is our privilege to support the law student mediation program at Thomas Jefferson School of Law," said Meredith Brown, vice president and chair of the grants review committee for the San Diego County Bar Foundation and an attorney with Brown & Brown. "This is an exciting grant because not only will it help to develop the highest of ethical standards in the legal profession, but it will also provide much needed quality legal services to our East County residents."
Mediation in the legal community continues to be a growth industry, and Thomas Jefferson School of Law has been a community leader in immersing students in the art of conflict resolution through this clinical program.
A shorter version of the article also appeared in the Daily Transcript on Monday January 15, 2007.