February/March 1983 RAIN Page 29 A • ’ technicality or procedural matter that never addresses the real concerns of any of the parties. "Mediation is no panacea, but it can be a valuable decision-making tool when the appropriate conditions exist: a willingness by all parties to seek a negotiated settlement, enough flexibility to permit negotiations, a clearly independent mediator, and a deadline that provides an urgency for the parties to settle." It is unclear whether one can think of mediation—and the many variations of dispute resolutions — as an alternative with long-lasting results. Some critics of mediation techniques have said that the settlements in a mediated case may not really be much different than a litigated case. It may not be as costly or time-consuming, but the result still may be an unresolved issue that will merely surface again. Gerald Cormick, founder of the Institute for Environmental Mediation, and a leader in the field, cautions against undue flattery of mediation, "Those who would espouse mediation as a means by which society can forge a new consensus, making future conflicts unnecessary, are doomed to failure and frustration. Mediation can best be seen as a process for settling disputes, not for resolving basic differences." Dispute resolution has also been growing as an alternative to litigation among individuals. Countless communities now have a process for settling disputes outside of the courts whenever possible. Chief Justice Warren E. Burger, in a speech to the American Bar Association, called upon lawyers to further develop negotiation and mediation techniques. Burger stated that the traditional obligation of the legal profession has been "to serve as healers of human conflicts." To fulfill that obligation, mechanisms in the law should provide acceptable results to the problems in the "shortest possible time, with the least expense and with a minimum of stress for those concerned." Burger stressed that in order to fulfill this promise, lawyers should develop alternatives which stress arbitration or mediation instead of litigation. The American Bar Association has supported work on alternatives to litigation through its Special Committee on Alternative Means of Dispute Resolution, providing technical assistance, designing new education programs, and conducting research and experimentation. Recognizing the growing number of alternatives, the committee describes, in recent publications, its interest in arbitration and mediation of both civil and criminal disputes, settlement incentives, neighborhood justice centers, citizen's advisory councils, ombudspersons, and other new and creative devices. In recognition of the growing number of community- level dispute resolution programs, the Society of Professionals in Dispute Resolution, a professional association predominantly for labor/management negotiators, recently elected Richard Salem, a non-labor dispute negotiator to its Board of Directors. There are all manner of dispute resolution programs around the country. The Anchorage Citizens Arbitration and Mediation Program is reintroducing traditional law mechanism for dealing with social tensions in rural settings. The Cambridge Settlement Center is a part of the Cambridgeport Problem Center which uses professional volunteers who are residents of the community to provide legal services and psychological counseling for low- income people. The Mediation Center in Minneapolis provides mediation as an alternative for people who can't afford a lawyer, and as an alternative to the juvenile court svstem. The states of Vermont, Wyoming, and California have kicked-off Automotive Consumer Action Programs (Autocaps), which establish procedures by which consumers may seek resolution of automotive complaints.
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