Case Mediation Section Success Stories

A Line in the Bog

Since the Court began mediating cases in 1998, it has mediated many real estate valuation, public records, and workers' compensation cases. Some of the cases, however, have definitely fallen outside these categories.

In one, the Court mediated a case in which homeowners believed that the county sewer authority had caused their sewage problem. The best result the Court could provide the homeowners through this extraordinary legal process, if they could prove the county liable at a later trial, was a writ ordering the county sewer authority to commence an eminent domain action in common pleas court. This action might result in the homeowners receiving compensation, in theory a taking of their property for use in the county sewer system.

Fifteen people arrived to negotiate on the morning of the mediation session. The homeowners, their attorney and professional engineer, two county prosecutors, an attorney for the county's insurance company, the insurance adjuster, a county commissioner, the county's independent professional engineer and the county's sanitary engineering staff sat down at the table, opened sodas and prepared for a long meeting.

The homeowners had had a previous sewage backup corrected and had then renovated their basement so they could entertain friends. They then experienced four sewage backups that ruined the improvements. They wanted the problem fixed, which they thought was a sagging mainline that had been built in a peat bog under the street in front of their house, and they also wanted compensation for the damage to their basement.

The county officials, on the other hand, claimed that the outlet pipe, running from the house to the street, did not have enough drop. The county pointed out that, while rain is a common cause for backups, two of the backups had occurred when no rain had fallen.

By the end of the morning session, both sides agreed that installing a grinder pump would fix the problem, and the county agreed to pay for the pump. Still, the parties had to agree on how much the pump would cost and who would maintain it. Moreover, the homeowners wanted compensation for the damage to their basement.

After an afternoon of negotiations, the parties agreed on monetary compensation, who would maintain the pump, and who would maintain the easement over the pump. With this agreement, the parties were able to put to rest four years of disputes and avoid more years of litigation.

Over 50 percent of the cases the Court has mediated have settled, and many of these settlements have resulted in dismissing cases in other courts. Mediation allows the parties to collaborate on a satisfactory solution to their problem, removes cases from this Court's docket, and often removes cases from other court dockets.

Fighting City Hall

Though they probably do not know it, people who receive traffic tickets in Columbus will see the effect of a case mediated at the Supreme Court.

In 2002, a hearing-impaired woman received a traffic ticket for speeding in Franklin County . The ticket specified how, but not where, to contest the charges. Calling the phone number printed on the ticket did not help because the Franklin County Municipal Court lacked a telecommunications device for the deaf, leaving her unable to communicate with court personnel.

Because she was faced with either paying a fine she disputed or arrest, she enlisted the help of students from Capital University Law School Clinic. Under the supervision of their professors, the students asked the Supreme Court, via a complaint in mandamus, to compel the city to print the address of the issuing court on its traffic tickets.

The case ended up in mediation that concluded with the city agreeing to issue new tickets that include the court's address. The city also agreed to ask officers to write the address when using older versions of the ticket. In addition, the municipal court clerk installed a phone line for the hearing-impaired, and court staff, aided by law students, started pulling and reviewing the approximately 5,000 cases where an arrest warrant had been issued to someone who received an incomplete ticket. Finally, the municipal court administrative judge, at the recommendation of the assistant city attorney, began withdrawing warrants or issuing new notices as appropriate.