WEST VIRGINIA STATE BAR SPONSORS MAGISTRATE MEDIATION TRAINING AT WVU COLLEGE OF LAW

WEST VIRGINIA STATE BAR SPONSORS MAGISTRATE MEDIATION TRAINING AT WVU COLLEGE OF LAW 

January 28, 2012 – Morgantown, W. V.  – The West Virginia State Bar, in cooperation with the WVU College of Law and the West Virginia University College of Law Alternative Dispute Resolution (“ADR”) Society provided mediation training for more than 65 law students, alumni, and attorneys on January 28^th 2012. The training, hosted at the WVU College of Law and coordinated by Professor Tom Patrick, utilized the skills of attorney volunteers Mike McDowell, Dan McDowell, Brian Corcoran, Shannon Smith, Jonathan Board, Earl Maxwell, Burton Hunter, Desiree Lyonette, and Debra Scudiere, Chair of the West Virginia State Bar ADR Committee, as well as Harrison County Magistrate Tammy Marple and Monongalia Magistrate Clerk Caroline Stoker to provide training and coaching for WVU law students and a handful of Wesleyan students at the all-day event. There were also several experienced student mediators on hand to assist with coaching and training: Dee Simmons, John Hickey, Brady Christopher, Jeremy Cooper, Jaime Ritton, Marianne Monkam, Alicia Lauderman, and Richard Karnes.

Once trained, trainees can mediate cases in the Magistrate Courts in Harrison, Marion, Monongalia, Preston, and Upshur counties, as well as other participating counties throughout the state. Mediation is a process where a neutral third party, the mediator, assists the parties to a dispute in negotiating a mutually beneficial agreement. If an agreement is reached, then the case need not be adjudicated. 

“Mediating cases helps lighten the docket in the counties in several ways” said Harrison County Magistrate Tammy Marple. “Clearly if a case settles, then there is one fewer case on the docket, but the mediation process often helps expedite the proceedings for those cases that don’t settle, because the parties have sat down and thought through the issues with a mediator beforehand.” Law students also benefit from mediation. Mediation fosters useful lawyering skills and provides perspective into the point of view of the disputing parties.  

Mediations take place in each of the five participating counties once a month. Students and local attorney volunteers travel to the counties and mediate cases in the late afternoon. Mediation is also a significant part of Circuit Court proceedings. In West Virginia Circuit Courts, mediation is required in most civil matters.

West Virginia State Bar’s ADR Committee focuses on building the base of attorneys in West Virginia who have skills in the area of mediation, arbitration, and negotiation. The mediation training available to law students helps to further the Committee’s goals, while also providing community service and skills training opportunities to the students.

The ADR Society is a student organization dedicated to promoting student interest in ADR at the West Virginia University College of Law. The Society helps students gain an understanding of and promote the use of ADR as an effective alternative to litigation. The Society provides students with the opportunity to hear from prominent ADR experts in the field and to organize and participate in local mediation trainings and competitions. Additionally, the group is instrumental in maintaining the Magistrate Court mediation program in West Virginia by organizing and volunteering for monthly mediation.