Mediation of Construction Disputes, AAA Updates Mediation Services

The American Arbitration Association recently updated its Mediation Services and now devotes a separate website to its mediation offerings. The new website is appropriately named www.aaamediation.com

Among the changes are the following --

New Pricing Structure

• AAA has eliminated the up-front filing fee
• The "mediation" rate designated on the Mediator's resume is a combined rate for the AAA and the Mediator
  

Revised Mediator Resumes

The AAA now provides the following new information about the Mediators on its Panel:

• Years of Practice as a Mediator
• Total Number of Cases Mediated
• Settlement Rates
• Statement of Philosophy
• Multi-Party Experience
• All Mediator Resumes are Posted On-Line
  

Choice of Administration

• Parties have the choice of filing their Mediation Cases locally (through the AAA Offices in Southfield), or at one of the Case Management Centers.
  
• Parties can also file their Mediation Cases through the AAA Mediation Website.
• Note: From my experience, the AAA's Southfield Office is much better at handling AAA matters than the Case Management Center in Rhode Island, which is the office otherwise assigned to handle mediation and arbitration cases from Michigan. Janice Holdinski and her Staff do a great job and I highly recommend that you file your Mediation Case through the Southfield Office. For more information, contact Janice Holdinski at (248) 352-5509. (pjc)