The Superior Court of the District of Columbia recently announced revisions to the General Mediation order for Civil Cases. According to Presiding Judge, Anthony Epstein, the main changes fall into three categories:
- Clarification of the procedures that lawyers and self-represented parties should follow
- Elimination of the requirement that parties must resubmit the Confidential Settlement Statement and the Mediation Readiness Certificate if mediation is rescheduled and the paperwork does not need to be updated
- Adoption of new procedures to encourage lawyers to submit paperwork on time.
The third revision is the result of a significant increase in the percentage of cases in which lawyers have failed to submit the necessary paperwork, thus forcing mediation to be postponed.
The overarching goal of the changes is to give lawyers incentives to submit the paperwork on time, thereby avoiding delays and hearings before calendar judges.
To review the updated General Mediation Order, click here.