CWRU Law School and Heights Court continue no-cost mediation partnership
The program makes mediators available twice a week for small claims, evictions, rent deposit cases and other civil cases. Yuri Linetsky and Andrew Pollis, visiting assistant professors of law, currently run the Civil Litigation and Mediation Clinic at the law school. Law students volunteer through the clinic to work with litigants, under their professors’ supervision, in a meeting room located in the same building as the court.
Participation in the mediation process is voluntary. Litigants are encouraged to take advantage of the program, particularly in cases where the legal cause of action is not clearly stated. The mediators act as neutral parties, facilitating a discussion between the litigants, helping them focus on realistic goals, discover available options and find a mutually satisfactory resolution to their dispute.
The program is offered at no cost to the parties or the court, under the approval of Cleveland Heights Municipal Court Judge A. Dean Buchanan. It's a community service offered by the law school through its Milton A. Kramer Law Clinic Center and the Center for Interdisciplinary Study of Conflict and Dispute Resolution.
The program has been integrated into the court schedule since 2005, when it was proposed as a pilot project by Wendy Hawbaker, a Cleveland Heights resident and mediation expert.
Georgeann Schmidt is the Cleveland Heights Municipal Court Magistrate.