Create a Mediation Program

Through her work as Program Development Consultant with Resolution Systems Institute, Laura L. Noah has extensive experience assisting courts in creating mediation programs.

The Statewide Mediation Access Project (SMAP) for which Laura was program development consultant, applied an innovative process - mediation - to a complex problem - the unmet legal needs of poor and low-income individuals. SMAP embodied a vision whose time had come - systematic development of mediation as a path to justice for poor and low-income disputants through a multi-pronged collaboration between mediation providers, legal services, courts, and others on a circuit-by-circuit basis throughout Illinois. Through the project, RSI provided technical support to courts and communities looking to use mediation to enhance access for poor and low-income disputants in downstate Illinois (from www.aboutrsi.org).   Unfortunately, due to funding, this project ended in fall of 2009. 

If your circuit is interested in contracting with private mediators or in creating pro bono mediation programs or programs for pro se litigants, contact Noah Mediation Services for more information: info@noahmediation.com or 708.434.0615.

Find Court-Related Mediation Program Information and Articles

The best source of information for all things connected to court-related mediation is Resolution Systems Institute's Court ADR Resource Center.  On the courtadr.org website you can find links to the Illinois Court ADR pocket guide (a brief summary of ADR that might be a useful reference for litigants), Illinois Court ADR Source Book (a reference for court ADR in the state and federal courts of Illinois including court rules), Court ADR Instruction Manual (develop, maintain, evaluate & improve existing programs), and Court ADR Research Library (where you can search the database for articles).