ADR For Civil Cases
Alternative Dispute Resolution: Options for Resolving Your Dispute (September 2002)
General information brochure introducing the most common forms of alternative dispute resolution (ADR) - mediation, arbitration, and case evaluation.
Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) in Civil Cases (August 1999)
Report of the Task Force on the Qualify of Justice Subcommittee on Alternative Dispute Resolution and the Judicial System, assessing and making recommendations regarding the effects of ADR on courts, litigants, and the public, as well as on ethical issues and court referral of disputes.
Evaluation of the Early Mediation Pilot Programs (February 2004)
Evaluation report on five court-annexed mediation pilot programs for civil cases - three mandatory programs and two voluntary programs - that operated from 2000 to 2003. The report focuses on these pilot programs' impact on trial rates, disposition time, litigant satisfaction with the dispute resolution process, litigant costs, and court workload.
Use and Cost of References in General Civil Cases (August 2004)
Report to the Legislature concerning references ordered by California superior courts under Code of Civil Procedure sections 638 and 639 from 2001 to 2003. The report focuses on (1) the use of references, particularly discovery references; (2) the time spent by referees in fulfilling their appointments; and (3) the fees charged to litigants for referees’ services.
ADR For Family And Juvenile Cases
The 1991 California Family Court Services Snapshot Study:
- Report 1: Overview: Families, Cases, and Client Feedback (PDF, 98 KB) [Executive Summary, PDF, 25 KB]
1991 Snapshot Study evaluation of the usefulness of mandatory mediation and the prevailing experience of clients statewide. The study compiled comprehensive data about clients and sessions in 75 branch courts, including client family characteristics and their ratings of their mediation. - Report 2: Client Evaluations of Mediation Services: Perspectives of Mothers and Fathers (Executive Summary) (1994, PDF, 28 KB)
Summary report finding that gender is not a powerful determinant of client satisfaction with mediation services. - Report 3: Client Evaluations of Mediation Services: The Impact of Case Characteristics and Mediation Service Models (January 1994, PDF, 98 KB)
Study of the questions commonly asked about mediation by groups who use the family court. - Report 4: Mediated Agreements on Child Custody and Visitation (May 1994, PDF, 99 KB)
Report from the 1991 Snapshot Study to test with a representative client sample the validity of some common assumptions about court-annexed mediation. - Report 5: Visitation with Children: A Follow-up of Court Mediation Clients (November 1994, PDF, 80 KB) [Executive Summary, PDF, 45 KB]
Report from the 1991 California Family Court Services Snapshot Study, performed by the Statewide Office of Family Court Services, describing formal and informal child custody provisions and the factors that influence them up to two years after families use court-based child custody mediation. - Report 6: Future Directions for Mandatory Child-Custody Mediation Services: Considerations From Two Studies of Court Users (February 1996)
Based on statewide representative data from the Uniform Statistical Reporting System, this study identified the need for competencies in several key areas of providing mediation services.
- Executive Summary (PDF, 21 KB)
- Main Report (PDF, 42 KB)
- Report Tables
- Report Figures
Children's Residence Five Years After Mediation (August 2001, PDF, 50 KB)
"Research Update" addressing how living arrangements changed for children of divorce and separation in California five years after their parents' court-based mediation session in 1991.
Client Feedback in California Court-Based Child Custody Mediation (April 2004, PDF, 200 KB)
"Research Update" exploration of the results of the Parent Viewpoint Survey from the 1999 Statewide Uniform Statistical Reporting System (SUSRS) study, including feedback for the total client population, demographics and other individual client characteristics, case characteristics, and characteristics of the county or court in which the mediation session took place.
Client Feedback: Retrospective Results from the California Child Custody Project (August 1994, PDF, 26 KB)
"Research Update" based on results from the California Child Custody Project, performed by the Statewide Office of Family Court Services, describing outcomes for families who used court-connected mediation to develop parenting plans for their children.
Client Satisfaction Survey: A Consumer Evaluation of Mediation and Investigative Services: Executive Summary (March 1991, PDF, 25 KB)
Report prepared by the Superior Court of Orange County, based on a study to develop structured follow-up procedures with clientele who have participated in court-connected mediation and investigative services.
Custody Mediation and Ethnic Diversity in California (October 2001, PDF, 217 KB)
"Research Update" investigating how the California family and juvenile courts are adapting their programs to an increasingly diverse client population that is more likely to be self-represented, foreign-born, and in need of interpreters.
Mediation Service Models and Client Satisfaction (1993, PDF, 5 KB)
Fact sheet of satisfaction measurement data from the 1991 California Family Court Services Snapshot Study, based on a representative cross section of all court-based mediation clients.
Parent Evaluations of Mediation Service (September 1993, PDF, 39 KB)
Brief summary noting widespread parent satisfaction with mandatory mediation.
Pre-Mediation Parent Education: The San Diego Experience (November 1999, PDF, 58 KB)
"Research Update" on the San Diego County Family Court Services mandatory, court-based, parent education program designed to help parents prepare for mediation.
Preparing Court-Based Child Custody Mediation Services for the Future (September 2000, PDF, 152 KB)
Summary report about clients with child custody disputes using family courts across California, based on authoritative data from the CFCC's Statewide Uniform Statistical Reporting System (SUSRS).
SUSRS 2003 Client Baseline Study: Summary Findings (June 2004, PDF, 68 KB)
"Research Update" presentation of key indicators from the 2003 Statewide Uniform Statistical Reporting System (SUSRS) Client Baseline Study. The study surveyed parents and mediators of all court-based child-custody mediation sessions in California for one week in October 2003.