Courts Served: Magistrate Court; State Court

In Brief: The program is designed for the Mediation of Landlord-Tenant Dispossessory Actions

The program is primarily structured as a law school externship program utilizing student mediator externs from Georgia State University and Emory University Law Schools. The students earn two to three law school credits per semester for participation in the program. Attorney mediators are scheduled to mediate cases during the summer and during student breaks. The parties are given a memo regarding mediation at the time pleadings are filed..

Program Overview:

The Fulton County Landlord-Tenant Mediation Program began as a pilot program in June of 1995 and is governed generally by the Alternative Dispute Resolution Program Rules of the Fulton County Courts under the auspices of the Board of Trustees of the Fulton County Fund for the administration of the Alternative Dispute Resolution Program.

Number of Cases Assigned Per Year: Approximately 2,500

Case Selection:

All dispossessory actions filed in Magistrate Court wherein a legally sufficient Answer has been filed will be referred to mediation. Cases in which a legally insufficient Answer is filed may be referred to mediation by the trial judge following the call of the calendar on Tuesday and Thursday afternoons at 4:00 P.M. State Court Landlord/Tenant cases may be referred to mediation by the trial judge or by request of the parties and/or their attorneys.

Scheduling:

Due to the abbreviated time frame for setting trial dates in dispossessory actions, mediations take place two hours before the trial calendar in dispossessory court. Following the call of the mediation calendar on Tuesday and Thursday afternoons at 2:00 P.M., the cases are assigned out to individual mediators. The average length of mediation sessions is one hour. With the consent of both parties, mediation sessions can be reset. There is no limitation on the number or length of sessions.

Program Features:

All participants in the mediation session sign an agreement and guidelines for mediation form which details mediation procedures, explains the finality of mediated agreements and also details the role of the mediator and the confidentiality of mediation sessions. Due to the nature of these cases, there is a high percentage of pro se representation in the mediations. Attorneys are permitted to answer the calendar and mediate without their clients being present provided they have full settlement authority. If an agreement is reached between the parties, it is put in writing in the form of a Consent Judgment. With the parties present, the agreement is then recorded by a court clerk in the recording room immediately adjacent to the court room. Mediators prepare a mediation report, and impasses are reported to the clerk and given to the judge to be heard following the call of the 4:00 P.M. calendar on the same day.

Neutrals Qualifications and Training:

Law Students: Law students from Georgia State and Emory University are interviewed on campus each Spring prior to the Fall semester when they begin their two semester externship. Students receive 20 hours of general civil mediation training and training in Landlord/Tenant Law, Section 8 and Public Housing Law before mediating cases. Students initially observe and co-mediate with attorney mediators in the program and then apply for registration with the Georgia Office of Dispute Resolution following their training and observations.

Attorneys: Attorney mediators must be members in good standing with the State Bar of Georgia and must currently be registered with the Georgia Office of Dispute Resolution as a mediator. Attorneys must undergo four hours of training in Landlord/Tenant Law, perform observations and/or co-mediations and observation by the program director before being qualified to mediate in the program. After serving as mediators on a volunteer basis for two calendars, mediators are paid $100.00 per mediation calendar (lasting approximately two and one-half to three hours).

Program Administration:

The Program is administered by the Executive Director, Bonnie Powell, who coordinates the program with the assistance of Audrey Blackshear (Dispossessory Court Supervisor) and Judge Louis Levenson. The Program is a part of the Fulton County Alternative Dispute Resolution Program.