THE RESOLUTION REPORT ONLINE

A major change to the certification of court mediators went into effect on November 15, 2007.  Following a petition by the Alternative Dispute Resolution Rules and Policy Committee, the Florida Supreme Court enacted modifications to the already established certification requirements.  The changes are designed to streamline the certification process, allow people from a wider variety of experience backgrounds to apply, and increase diversity in the mediator pool.  The new requirements will affect applicants in many ways.

To understand the implication of the changes, it is helpful to look at the previous rules on certification.  The rules for mediator certification were first established in 1988.  Originally, the qualifications, with the exception of county mediator certification, were “degree-based.”   Generally, in order to become certified in family or dependency mediation, this meant one had to have an advanced degree (masters or higher) in a variety of disciplines or be a physician or attorney licensed in any US jurisdiction.  For circuit mediator certification, the requirements were even narrower in that one had to be a Florida lawyer with five years of Florida practice or a retired judge from any US jurisdiction .   These initial qualifications, adopted to ease acceptance of the mediation program, remained in place for county, family and dependency certification until 2006, when the Florida Supreme Court adopted the point system, and for circuit, until November 15, 2007 when the Court released its second opinion in SC05-998.

The Court engaged in lengthy analysis, holding two oral arguments and considering input from the ADR Rules and Policy Committee as well as The Florida Bar.  Ultimately, the Court amended the certification rules to allow non-attorneys to apply for circuit certification and changed the qualifications system from education based to points based on different categories.  Justice Harry Lee Anstead described the changes as an historic accomplishment which provides a clear signal to the public that mediation does not belong to a single profession.

Recognizing that some parties will desire that their circuit mediation be conducted by a member of The Florida Bar, the Court amended the Florida Rules of Civil Procedure to include a provision that parties may still request circuit mediators with Florida Bar status. See rule 1.720(f)(2).

The new point system has general point total requirements for each category of mediator certification as well as sub-section requirements such as education and mentorship.
           
It is important to note that all sub-requirements must be met. Even though a person may have enough points to equal 100 total points, they are still required to earn the minimum number of points in education/training experience .

For example, as displayed on the following charts a person applying for certification as a circuit mediator must attend a certified training program; have either a Bachelor’s degree and five years of mediation experience, or a Master’s degree or higher; complete observations or co-mediations adding up to 30 points; and accrue 15 additional points in some way- such as additional education points, professional license points, or additional mentorship points. 

Certification Requirements as of November 15, 2007

For more information on the new certification system, interested persons should check out the DRC website at http://www.flcourts.org/gen_public/adr/index.shtml.