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SJC
APPOINTS NEW MEMBERS TO STANDING COMMITTEE
ON DISPUTE RESOLUTION
Boston, MA--The
Justices of the Supreme Judicial Court today announced the
recent appointments of four new members to the Standing Committee
on Dispute Resolution. The
new members, who may serve for three-year terms, are Peter
U. Bowne, Executive Director of the Massachusetts Association
of Mediation Programs and Practitioners; Susan M. Jeghelian,
Executive Director of the Massachusetts Office of Dispute
Resolution; Deborah J. Patterson, Assistant Clerk of the Land
Court Department of the Trial Court; and Sarah E. Worley,
Vice President of Commonwealth Mediation & Conciliation,
Inc.
Chaired
by Superior Court Judge John C. Cratsley, the 24-member Standing
Committee advises the Court on alternative dispute resolution
(ADR) standards and procedures provided by the Trial Court
and on the implementation of ADR programs and services.
The
Governor and Legislature appropriated $946,861 for ADR services
in the Trial Court for this fiscal year and $540,000 for permanency
mediation in the Juvenile and Probate and Family Courts. These
funds have enabled the courts to provide a variety of cost-effective
ADR initiatives for people with cases in the Superior Court,
District Court, Probate and Family Court, and Juvenile Court.
For example, pilot programs in the West Roxbury District Court, the
Probate and Family Court, and the Superior Court will provide
case screening and free or subsidized court-connected mediation
services for indigent litigants who represent themselves in
court (pro se litigants).
Another program enables the Superior Court to provide
case screening services in all counties, which will help to
inform individuals about alternative methods, such as mediation,
for resolving their disputes. Other efficient, court-connected mediation
programs in the Superior Court involve prisoner lawsuits,
and will provide indigent prisoners with ADR services.
In the District Court, eleven community mediation programs,
which are identified by line items in the budget appropriation,
provide a multitude of dispute resolution services for people
with cases in these courts.
The
new Committee members have a breadth of experience and expertise
in the ADR field. Peter
Bowne, a resident of Jamaica Plain, is a volunteer mediator
with Cape Cod Dispute Resolution Center in Orleans and a private
practitioner on Cape Cod.
Susan Jeghelian, a resident of Cummaquid, supervises
the various ADR programs in the Massachusetts Office of Dispute
Resolution (MODR) and has served as a mediator, staff trainer,
programs manager, facilitator, and case evaluation coordinator. She is a graduate of Boston College Law School
and Mount Holyoke College.
Deborah Patterson, Assistant Clerk Magistrate in the
Land Court since 1994, is also the ADR Coordinator for the
Land Court, and is involved in numerous court activities.
A resident of Boston, Ms. Patterson, who is a graduate
of Clark University, received a Trial Court Employee Excellence
Award in 1995. As Vice President of Commonwealth Mediation
& Conciliation, Inc., attorney Sarah Worley is responsible
for the operations and quality standards, and serves as a
mediator and arbitrator in civil cases.
A resident of Marion, she is a graduate of Georgetown
University Law Center and Dartmouth College.
In
addition, Timothy M. Linehan, staff attorney in the Administrative
Office of the Trial Court, was named Coordinator of ADR Services
for the Trial Court by Chief Justice for Administration and
Management Barbara A. Dortch-Okara.
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