The Summit County Court of Common Pleas' Office of Backlog Reduction is pleased to announce that 90 (64%) of the 140 civil cases referred to Settlement Week 2023 have been resolved.
Settlement Week is an initiative that brings civil litigants and highly-trained volunteer mediators into the courthouse to resolve civil disputes. This in-person event concluded on Friday, November 3, 2023.
"We were very excited to revive this dispute resolution effort," said Summit County Court of Common Pleas' Office of Backlog Reduction Director Richard Reinbold. "The last time a dispute resolution effort of this scale was held within the Summit County Court of Common Pleas was in 2002. That year, 30% of the civil cases assigned to the Settlement Week case roster were settled through mediation."
Mediation is any process in which a mediator, a neutral third party, facilitates communication and negotiation between parties to help them reach a voluntary agreement regarding a dispute. The mediator provides a forum that allows parties (and their attorneys or supportive individuals) to discuss their conflict and any other issues that may concern them.
"I would like to thank all of the experienced civil trial attorneys who served as volunteer mediators for this special event," said Summit County Court of Common Pleas Judge Mary Margaret Rowlands. "Together, they made this the most successful Settlement Week on record!"
To date, Settlement Week events hosted by the Summit County Court of Common Pleas have led to the resolution of 1,741 civil cases.
A breakdown of the types of civil cases resolved through Settlement Week 2023 includes: business/contract disputes (14), personal injury (59), and workers' compensation (17).
According to 2022 data released by the Ohio Supreme Court, the 10 judges operating within the Summit County Court of Common Pleas, General Division, have nearly twice the criminal caseload (707 per judge) as the state average (354 per judge). In addition to their high criminal caseload, judges are also responsible for managing civil (non-criminal) caseloads.
"The more civil cases that can be settled during Settlement Week, the more time judges will have to meet the demands of their ever-increasing criminal caseloads," said Summit County Court of Common Pleas, General Division Court Executive Officer Robert Gainer.
Settlement Week 2023 was hosted by the Summit County Court of Common Pleas, General Division's Office of Backlog Reduction, a unit established in 2023 through the support of American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) grant dollars to reduce the backlog of pending civil proceedings.
For more information about Settlement Week 2023, click on https://www.summitcpcourt.net/settlementweek/
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