NYSDRA URGES ADOPTION OF THE UNIFORM MEDIATION ACT
WITH THE ADDITION OF ETHICAL STANDARDS FOR MEDIATORS

WHY DOES NEW YORK NEED COMPREHENSIVE MEDIATION LEGISLATION?
The New York State Dispute Resolution Association (NYSDRA) urges New York State to adopt a comprehensive mediation
bill, which will protect New Yorkers from any potential abuses during the mediation process as well as the professionals
who practice mediation. Fortunately, a prototype of such a bill exists. The Uniform Mediation Act (UMA) proposed by the
National Conference of Commissioners on Uniform State Laws (NCCUSL), adopted by eleven states and currently pending
in three additional jurisdictions, provides the ideal platform on which to build a New York Mediation Law.

The UMA provides rules on the issues of confidentiality and privileges in mediation. The Act establishes an evidentiary
privilege for mediators and participants in mediation that applies in later legal proceedings. It also provides a confidentiality
obligation for mediators. All of these are critical steps in the development of mediation as a profession and in ensuring
quality mediation services are available to all New Yorkers. NYSDRA joins with our colleagues, the New York State
Bar Association (NYSBA) in endorsing these provisions of the UMA.

IN ADDITION, NYSDRA believes that the UMA can be improved by adding certain provisions. Particularly, NYSDRA
supports the adoption of professional standards for mediators, whether through licensing, continuing professional education,
or some other model.¹ Currently, any individual of whatever background, temperament or experience can potentially
represent him or herself as a “mediator.” It is to the advantage of ALL New Yorkers, including both the professional
mediation community AND the various interest groups that are involved, to create and enforce certain standards of training,
experience and ethics for anyone looking to practice mediation.

Any law enacted in New York covering the practice of mediation, including the proposed UMA, should ensure that ALL
mediators adhere to these professional ethics standards:
1) Full Disclosure
2) Opportunity for Full Expression
3) Self-Determination
4) Responsibility to the Participants and the Profession
5) Impartiality
6) Confidentiality
7) Truthful Advertising
8) Accessibility²

WHAT IS MEDIATION?
Mediation is a process affording parties in conflict an environment in which to voluntarily engage in a facilitated discussion
to convey issues and concerns, consider each other’s points of view, explore options, and conclude the mediation
with mutual understanding.

Regardless of the area of practice, most mediators in New York complete a minimum number of hours of Principles of
Mediation Training, followed by supplemental training in specific areas of practice, including custody and visitation, special
education, small claims contractual disputes, and PINS issues, along with annual continued education requirements
in that area of practice. When a mediator is properly trained, mentored and has demonstrated mastery of relevant skill
sets, the integrity of the mediation process is upheld. Parties who use the mediation process to resolve issues are provided
with the best environment possible to assert their fundamental right to self-determination.

WHAT ARE SOME MYTHS ABOUT MEDIATION?
A. Mediation is a closed door non-appealable non-enforceable system. Since the issues are client generated, only the
clients can discover plausible short-term solutions and long-term resolution of the matters that brought them to mediation.
The bases for appeal and enforcement are thus inextricably built in. They are embodied in the parties’ images
of themselves as decent, honorable people of integrity.
B. The mediation process denies women due process in child custody and child support matters. In fact, just the reverse
occurs. The role of the mediator is to identify, assess and quell the inappropriate use of power within the mediation
setting. An experienced mediator skillfully screens out or defuses the explicit or implicit misuse or imbalance
of power.³
C. The purpose of custody & visitation mediation is to pressure the parents to agree to joint custody without any consideration
of the best interest of the children. Nothing could be farther from the truth. Mediation helps both parents
to consider past parenting roles and family tradition, as well as ways to ensure stability and continuity of care when
developing their parenting plan.
D. Mediation’s immediate goal is to settle the case. “Settling the case” may be a desired outcome but not the only
outcome desired. Mediation provides a safe environment for parties to resolve the issues that created “the case.” Full
resolution is contingent on mutual consent, and mutual consent evolves when each party has had the opportunity to be
heard and understood; and to be recognized, validated and appreciated.

WHAT IS NYSDRA?
The New York State Dispute Resolution Association, Inc. (NYSDRA) is a private not-for-profit professional membership
organization committed to the promotion of quality conflict management and peaceful dispute resolution. NYSDRA is
the professional association for Office of Court Administration (OCA) and private professional career mediators in New
York State, and provides individual, group, business and government clients the security of a standardized system of accountability.

With a quarter-century spent administering statewide consumer mediation programs and serving the needs of both its
professional members and the public, NYSDRA is well poised to assume the role of providing training and oversight of
practicing mediators, as well as process grievances lodged against mediators by consumers harmed by inappropriate or
unskilled mediation practices.⁴
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1.This system currently exists for all court-appointed mediators in Family Court and for mediators who practice and volunteer at NYSDRA’s network of community dispute resolution centers (CDRC’s). Those mediators must undergo a comprehensive initial training, an apprenticeship, and continuing education under the auspices of the Office of Court Administration. The gaping hole in this system, however, is the lack of any training or quality control for mediators outside the OCA-sanctioned system.
2. These standards were adopted by the NYSDRA Board of Directors in December 2005.
3. It should be noted that identified spousal/partner abuse situations are not appropriate for mediation and proper ethical procedure requires, in cases where the mediator recognizes a possible abuse, the immediate termination of the mediation session.
4.NYSDRA, of all the statewide entities supporting the UMA, is uniquely situated to address the impact of legislation on the holistic alternative dispute
resolution (ADR) community. Our members consist of a community dispute resolution center (CDRC) presence in every county of New York and private mediators from all walks of life, including attorneys, educators, human resource professionals, businesspeople and others. NYSDRA has been in the forefront of efforts to define and refine codes of conduct, minimum standards of training and care, and quality continuing eduction and mentoring.