Background and history

Attorneys in Santa Barbara by now, after more than a year in operation, have become easily familiar with the name of the new CADRe program, CMADRESS (Case Management Alternative Dispute Early Resolution Session). This program was spearheaded by Judge J. William McLafferty and the ADR Committee of the Santa Barbara Court. After many months of planning and successful application for funding from the Sacramento Administrative Office of the Courts, the CMADRESS program can now be considered a success after its first full year.

The administration of the CMADRESS program by the court was delegated to the CADRe office. Many facilitators who have already qualified as CADRe neutrals volunteered to participate in the CMADRESS program. Therefore, not all CADRe neutrals receive assignments from CMADRESS. Assignments are handled by the CADRe director.

Report card after one year in a row

Meetings for feedback were recently held in response to the CMADRESS program from the local bar and participating facilitators. The general consensus of opinion was favorable for the CMADRESS program. Current grant funding has been able to sustain the program. A new change created was to extend the amount of time to complete the CMADRESS from 45 days to 60 days after the neutral assignment. This will allow all parties to be better prepared for the session and will also accommodate some scheduling hurdles. In addition, if additional time is needed beyond this 60-day period, it will now be the parties’ responsibility to obtain permission to conduct CMADRESS beyond this period. Previously, it was the responsibility of the assigned facilitator to obtain additional time to conduct the CMADRESS.

The CADRe website maintains statistics on all CMADRESS case assignments. This includes, among many other items, the number of cases that have been assigned to CMADRESS for both the north and south of the county, the number that has been completed, the number that has gone to mediation after the Conciliation Session and an agreement has been reached and those who also went to mediation after the Advance Conciliation Session, but ended without an agreement. These statistics are periodically updated.

The statistics speak of the success of the CMADRESS program for both the north and south of the county. More cases have been referred to the CMADRESS program in South County, giving it a numerical and statistical advantage. However, review of the statistics for both locations shows that over the course of a year, more and more cases are being resolved through the CMADRESS program.

Your new case and CMADRESS

Assignment to CMADRESS begins at a Case Management Conference of any civil case. CMADRESS is used for all civil litigation cases that the court determines to be worth more than $ 50,000.00. CMADRESS is not used with family law matters. At the time of the CMC when the case is ordered to CMADRESS, the parties can also expect the court to set a mandatory Settlement Conference date, as well as the corresponding trial date.

Once ordered from CMADRESS, all parties must move immediately to contact the CADRe office within a specified time period (10 days) for the assignment of a neutral. The court-imposed deadline for completing the CMADRESS session is now 60 days from the neutral assignment and this change should be reflected in all future case management orders. Similar to CADRe’s limited mediation assignment, once a facilitator is assigned to the CMADRESS case, the parties and attorneys must initiate contact with the facilitator to schedule a session. When the scheduling is organized within the time allowed by the court, the parties must notify the CAD

When attempting to schedule the CMADRESS session, if the parties and / or attorneys discover that they are unable to conduct the session within the 60-day court date, an extension of time may be requested. This request should briefly explain the reason for the delay and the need for more time. Approval is obtained only from the Settlement Conference judge, not the judge assigned to the trial. This rule applies to cases in both the north and south of the county. The request must also specify the exact amount of additional time by notifying the court of the date of the future CMADRESS session. The time extension to complete CMADRESS does not apply to the test or MSC date. These will remain unchanged if the court approves the request for an extension of time to conduct a CMADRESS session. MSC extensions and / or trial dates should be directed to the assigned Trial Judge and the assigned neutral should accompany them.

Participating in CMADRESS

The holding of CMADRESS for all purposes is the same or similar to that of any Mediation or Mandatory Settlement Conference. The assistance of the necessary parties with full authority to make agreements is required. Telephone appearances will not be allowed. The designated trial attorney for each side is also required to attend CMADRESS. All parties are encouraged to submit reports to the facilitator to better understand the facts of the case.

During CMADRESS, the facilitator will discuss with all CMADRESS parties, the ADR process and the alternative ADR methods available. This will include discovery costs for alternative ADR methods, as well as discovery costs for trial and eventual trial costs. The court pays the facilitator for the three-hour CMADRESS session. Thereafter, if the parties and the attorneys agree to use an alternate ADR method to engage the services of the assigned facilitator, payment to this neutral becomes the responsibility of the litigants. The parties and / or attorneys also have the right to make arrangements for someone other than the assigned CMADRESS facilitator in the event that they intend to pursue alternative ADR methods instead of or in addition to the CMADRESS session. In the case of either of those two options, a stipulation on the CADRe form must be completed, signed and sent to the CADRe office for approval by the Court and its filing, and the parties will be responsible for the facilitator’s fees.

At the conclusion of the CMADRESS session, the facilitator delivers and submits a CMADRESS report to the court listing the attendees, if any future ADRs are being considered, if time extensions will be necessary, and if ADR and Trial topics include Se they discussed the discovery and costs of the litigation. The parties and / or attorneys are requested to complete a CMADRESS evaluation of the neutral to be returned to the CADRe office.

Conclution

In summary, after one year, the CMADRESS program began operating and has performed successfully, in many cases, beyond the expectations of the local bar association and the court. The ADR committee of the Superior Court must perform an ongoing fine-tuning. This can only be done with the future public bar entrance. The ADR committee hopes that the current success of the program will result in future funding from the AOC in Sacramento for this court and, perhaps, other courts in California, as this is a pilot program for all state courts.