Early Settlement, One of City's Best Programs
For nearly 30 years, the Early Settlement Mediation and
Settlement Conferences program has been a highly successful
volunteer program in the Tulsa community offered through Tulsa
Municipal Courts. Mayor Dewey Bartlett offered praise to those who
work in this important program at a news conference and reception
this week.
The mediation program is offered daily Monday through Friday and
in Tulsa Small Claims Court weekday mornings, except for
Wednesdays. Seventy percent of the volunteers are attorneys, while
the other 30 percent are lay persons, including law students and
concerned citizens.
Volunteers range in age from the early 20s on up to 80
year-olds. These 94 volunteers serve as mediators, or even as
adjunct settlement judges.
Many judges have even served previously as volunteers over the
years, and regularly refer cases to the mediation program.
Currently, Judge P. Thomas Thornbrugh, Judge Rebecca Nightingale,
Judge Theresa Dreiling and Judge Millie Otey utilize the Early
Settlement in many of their court cases.
Volunteers are available on site in the court room to
immediately assist the court. Most mediation is complete within 30
minutes of the time the bench referral has been made. In the event
that a case is self-referred, the cost is $5 per party.
Direct bench referrals to Early Settlement mediation was offered
on a test basis from April 2010 through March 2011 in the Small
Claims court of Judge Millie Otey. She began making open court
referrals, asking all parties to sit with a mediator at the time of
their original court hearing. During this first trial year, Otey
made 532 direct referrals to Early Settlement. Of those cases, 328
were settled through this process, about 62 percent or 6 out of 10
lawsuits. Of those, 98 percent remained settled at the end of the
test period.
Early Settlement had been an option for those in litigation
since April of 1992 when it was approved by Mayor Jim Inhofe. The
original idea for the Early Settlement option was initiated by
Terry Simonson who at the time was serving as Tulsa's first Court
Administrator. Simonson received a grant from the Law Enforcement
Assistance Administration to start the program and the rest is
history. Simonson and Early Settlement were recognized by the Tulsa
County Bar Association for contributions to the improvement of
justice by receiving the Liberty Bell Award. Thereafter the
program has received funding from the City, the State, and the
County. It is very much a cooperative effort and is exemplary of
government working together and effectively.
