Appellate mediation at the First District Court of Appeal.

• Author: Riselli, Donna
• Position: Florida

How and Why It Works

The appellate mediation program at the First District Court of Appeal was a project initiated during the term of the late former Chief Judge Earle Zehmer. When the concept was initially proposed, there was a backlog of appeals at the court, particularly in the area of workers' compensation. The court believed that the institution of an appellate mediation program could reduce the backlog that it was experiencing without the necessity and expense of adding another judge and complementary staff, while simultaneously providing litigants the opportunity to resolve their disputes on their own terms at a reduced cost.

A mediation committee of Judge Zehmer, Judge Barfield, Judge Wolf, Judge Joanos, Judge Davis, and Judge Kahn was established. The committee engaged in substantial research relating to existing appellate mediation programs to determine what characteristics made some more effective and successful than others. They were particularly impressed with the design and success of the appellate mediation program that had been established several years earlier at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit in Atlanta. That mediation program utilized salaried, in-house mediation officers who engaged in a combination of traditional in-person mediation conferences and telephone mediation conferences, utilizing sophisticated telephone conference equipment purchased by the court to enable the mediators to effortlessly and effectively conduct both joint sessions and private caucuses with as many of the six lines as necessary at any given time.

Following a visit to Atlanta to witness the operation of the mediation process at the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals and a visit by Steven Kinnard, chief circuit mediator for the 11th Circuit, to the First District Court of Appeal, the judges at the First District decided to use that program as the model for its own appellate mediation program. The court then sought and received funding from the legislature to embark on this initiative, and in July 1996 the First District Court of Appeal initiated its appellate mediation program.

The First District Court of Appeal is unique among the Florida district courts of appeal because it has exclusive jurisdiction, statewide, over workers' compensation appeals and additionally entertains the majority of administrative appeals which typically are taken in Tallahassee, where most agencies are headquartered. Another characteristic that makes the First District Court of Appeal unique among Florida's district courts of appeal is the large geographic territory encompassed within its jurisdiction. All of these factors, in combination, are conducive to the concept of appellate mediation and make the concept of utilizing telephone mediation conferences particularly cost effective and advantageous. The program is designed as an in-house program, utilizing a combination of in-person and telephone mediation conferences, and for the first two years of its existence consisted of one salaried mediation officer and an administrative assistant. The court purchased the same telephone conference equipment utilized by the U.S. Court of Appeals in Atlanta. All costs associated with the appellate mediation process are borne by the court.

The court's research indicated that appellate mediation programs that were mandatory enjoyed greater success than voluntary programs. Additionally, the court recognized that the quality of the mediator was a critical factor in the success or failure...