About Access ADR

What is the project and why is there a need for it?

ACCESS ADR is an initiative to increase the number of ADR professionals from ethnic and racial groups under-represented in the ADR field who are available for selection by the users of ADR services. Diversity in the field is of increasing importance in the global community in which business operates today and in the future. The need for more full-time mediators from a variety of ethnic and racial groups is one of the great challenges facing this growing field of ADR in the United States. ACCESS ADR is designed to expose the users of ADR services to those mediators from various ethnic and racial groups under-represented in the ADR field who are available and qualified to handle high-stakes/complex mediations.

The assumption underlying ACCESS ADR is that there are mediators from a variety of ethnic and racial groups who are qualified to handle high-stakes/complex mediations, and that there are users of ADR services who want to use such mediators. The problem has been that the users of the services do not know mediators of color or those from diverse ethnic backgrounds who can provide the services. ACCESS ADR is designed to meet that need.

Who will participate in Project ACCESS ADR?

ACCESS ADR is not an entry level program for neophyte mediators. To be eligible for consideration, applicants must have mediated a minimum of thirty-six (36) disputes and have received at least $150,000 in aggregate compensation from such work during the immediate three years preceding the submission of the ACCESS ADR (Project) application. In addition, the applicant must have served as a compensated mediator for at least five (5) years with such mediation work having constituted at least 15% of the applicant's work during that five-year period. The first group of ACCESS ADR mediators (Fellows) will be limited to no more than six (6) and will be approved by an independent Advisory Board which is described below.

ACCESS ADR will permit the users of mediation services to obtain an in-depth knowledge of Project Fellows and will allow the users to assure themselves of the Fellows’ integrity, competence and commitment to the field as full-time ADR professionals. ACCESS ADR Fellows will be in the program for a period of twelve (12) to eighteen (18) months. During that period, they will be assigned to mediations that members of the Board will assist in providing. Project Fellows will be paid at the prevailing rate for mediators of experience in the region in which they are working. It is anticipated that each ACCESS ADR Fellow will be assigned approximately two (2) cases per month or a maximum of twenty-four (24) cases during her/his tenure in the program. After each mediation, the parties to the dispute will be asked to provide a written evaluation of the Fellow’s performance. Those evaluations will be shared with members of the Board and will serve as part of the basis for feedback to and evaluation of the Fellow.

At the end of the Project Fellow’s tenure in the Program, the Fellow will receive a final evaluation. Those Fellows who receive favorable evaluations will be awarded an ACCESS ADR certificate of completion. Some Fellows may be asked by the Board to become mentors for future groups of ACCESS ADR Fellows. Members of the Advisory Board will be asked to use their best efforts to continue to assist program Fellows by helping them further their careers as full-time ADR neutrals.

How will Project ACCESS ADR operate and who will oversee it?

ACCESS ADR will be administered by the Center for Alternative Dispute Resolution (the Center), a Maryland-based not-for-profit organization. The Center received grants from the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation and the JAMS Foundation to assist with the start-up of the ACCESS ADR program.

ACCESS ADR will be overseen by an independent Advisory Board that will include members of plaintiff bar organizations, members of defense bar organizations, insurance company representatives, corporations and other high-volume users of neutral services. Members of the Board will be asked to make a financial contribution to the Project. These funds will be used to defray the administrative costs of the program. In addition to a financial contribution, members of the Board will be asked to provide Project Fellows with cases during the tenure of the Fellows in the program.

In addition to the financial contributing seats on the Board, a limited number of seats will be designated for non-financial contributors who are knowledgeable and supportive of the ADR field. As an example, one non-financial contributing seat is held by the ABA, Section of Dispute Resolution.

We believe ACCESS ADR is an exciting initiative that will greatly contribute to the diversity of the ADR field.

ACCESS ADR Contacts
Marvin E. Johnson, Esq. and Homer C. La Rue, Esq.
Co-Directors and Founders, ACCESS ADR
(301) 313-0800
info@accessadr.org
www.accessadr.org