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The trust and confidence of attorneys and their clients in the capabilities and ethics of court appointed mediators must be protected by the judiciary. It is reasonable to believe that the level of a mediator’s training and experience has a meaningful relationship to the mediator’s qualifications. It is also reasonable to believe that mediators who are accountable for their conduct through some grievance process would be perceived as having a greater level of commitment to their work and accountability for their conduct. If mediators held credentials that were recognized in connection with specific levels of training, experience and commitment, such credentials would be helpful to the courts in identifying qualified mediators for appointment to cases referred to mediation informally or by court order. With the Texas legislature having mandated that the courts should promote ADR, the Texas Supreme court has expressed concern about the qualifications, conduct and ethics of mediators who are appointed to mediate pending litigation. On May 7, 1996 the Supreme Court signed an order creating an advisory committee on court-connected mediation. In that Order the court expressed its intent by writing that:
The advisory committee made its recommendations to the court that the court adopts specific rules of ethics for mediator conduct and a procedure for enforcing compliance with the rules. While the court was considering the advisory committee’s recommendations the court was also aware of the work of the Texas Mediator Credentialing Association (TMCA) in addressing mediator qualifications and ethics through credentialing. After meetings of TMCA representatives with Chief Justice Tom Phillips, Justice Priscilla Owens, and members of the advisory committee, the court decided not to adopt rules for mediator ethics or credentialing. On June 13, 2005 the court signed an “Approval of Ethical Guidelines for Mediators” affirming that the court is committed to ensuring the continued quality of mediators and mediation services in Texas and adopting the Ethical Guidelines for Mediators promulgated by the Alternative Dispute Resolution Section of the State Bar of Texas in 1994. The Ethical Guidelines are aspirational but, when necessary, are to be enforced by the courts through their inherent powers and rules already in existence. The court has not otherwise regulated mediator conduct. Continue Next Column>> |
The TMCA began issuing credentials to mediators in 2004. The TMCA is a Texas non-profit, non-governmental corporation with a Sec. 503.c (6) designation under the U.S. Internal Revenue Code that issues credentials to mediators who meet training, experience and commitment qualifications for the credentials. Credential holders must also meet annual continuing education and experience requirements in order to maintain a credential. The TMCA is uniquely appropriate to issue credentials to mediators, in that its ten-member board of directors is composed of the representatives of major mediation organizations (the Texas Dispute Resolution Centers funded through the ADR Act, the Texas Association of Mediators, the ADR Section of the State Bar of Texas, the Association of Attorney Mediators, the Center for Public Policy Resolution, and the Texas Mediators Trainers Roundtable) who are appointed by each such organization to the board, and representatives of education, consumers, mediator trainers and the judiciary nominated and elected to the board by the organizational members of the board. The work of the TMCA represents an historic collaboration by mediators and their leaders to take professional responsibility for the quality of mediators in Texas and to provide to the courts and the public credentials through which they could identify mediators who have accomplished and maintain specific levels of training and experience identified with the credentials. The work of the Supreme Court and the Texas Mediator Credentialing Association has provided significant support to counsel, their clients, and the trial and appellate courts in selecting and appointing qualified mediators. Although credentials do not ensure quality, the enhanced ability to identify and select qualified mediators improves and protects the public’s confidence in mediator competency, mediator ethics, and the administration of justice through court ordered mediation. For more information, contact:
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