Alternative Dispute Resolution
What Is ADR?
Did you know that most civil lawsuits settle without going to trial?
In Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR), trained impartial persons decide disputes or help parties decide disputes themselves without going to trial. These persons are called neutrals. In arbitration the neutral is called the arbitrator. The most common forms of ADR are mediation, arbitration and settlement conferences. There are a number of other kinds of ADR as well.
The court offers several types of Alternative Dispute Resolution: family law mediation (child custody, child support), civil, probate, and family law settlement conferences, and arbitration. The court's ADR Coordinator arranges for the trained professionals and schedules the hearings. For more information about these programs, please refer to the Court's Local Rules related to ADR, under the topic, Settlement Conferences, by clicking here.
For copies of all the Judicial Council and local forms in the ADR forms packet, go to the local forms page.
View a list of ADR attorneys in Marin and to learn the minimum requirements to serve as a mediator, arbitrator, or ADR neutral.
Locations of Bench Bar and Settlement Conferences at the courthouse:
- Family Law bench bar settlement conferences are conducted in Room C-84
- Civil/Probate/Custody-Visitation settlement conferences are heard in the department assigned to your case
For an attorney wishing to volunteer as a Civil Settlement Conference Panelist, please complete form CV055/FL055 - Application to Serve as Volunteer Settlement Conference Panelist for Civil & Family Law (Attorneys & MHPs) & Qualification Guidelines.
For an attorney wishing to volunteer as a Civil Court Appointed Judicial Arbitrator, please complete form CV058.
For an attorney or mental health professional wishing to volunteer as a Family Law Settlement Conference Panelist, the court requires that panelists meet certain experience requirements. Review these requirements and complete the application.
For more detailed information about the advantages of ADR, please click here.
The Marin County Bar Association also offers mediation for parties who have limited financial resources. The program is called the Modest Means Mediation Program. For more information about this program please click here.
For an attorney wishing to volunteer as a Probate Settlement Conference Panelist, please complete form CV055/FL055 - Application to Serve as Volunteer Settlement Conference Panelist for Civil & Family Law (Attorneys & MHPs) & Qualification Guidelines.