As Texas commemorates the 20th anniversary of the Alternative Dispute Resolution Act, Houston can take pride in being the city with the first Dispute Resolution Center in the state.

In 1978, Houston Bar Association president, Charles R. (Bob) Dunn, formed a committee to examine the feasibility of creating a “Neighborhood Justice Center,” based on similar pilot programs in Kansas City, Atlanta and Los Angeles that had been initiated by then U.S. Attorney General Griffin Bell. The Hon. Frank Evans, then chief justice of the First Court of Appeals, chaired the Houston Bar Association committee. In studying the needs of Houston’s residents, the HBA committee found that out of 17,000 citizens interviewed in 1978 by the Harris County District Attorney’s Office Citizens’ Complaint Desk, the D.A. filed formal criminal charges in only 1,700 cases. What happened to the remaining complaints and problems? Sometimes, the parties worked out a resolution; sometimes these small problems escalated into violence.

The theory behind the Neighborhood Justice Center concept was that when parties participate in solving their own problems, they are more likely to abide by the mutually negotiated solution. Volunteers from all walks of life could be trained as mediators, the main qualifications being a willingness to listen, a non-judgmental attitude, and enough assertiveness to control a proceeding.        

With the support and assistance of James B. Sales, who served as HBA president in 1980-81, Houston’s project received “seed grants” from several sources, including the American Bar Association, the U.S. Department of Justice, the Cullen Foundation and the Rockwell Fund. In August 1980, the project began holding mediation hearings after hours in the Harris County Criminal Courts Building at 301 San Jacinto. In the fall of 1980, the Neighborhood Justice Center hired its first professional staff, opened its first office, and set up its first 40-hour training program for volunteer mediators.

Throughout the early 1980s, the Neighborhood Justice Center averaged 146 mediations per month, with 100 cases reaching settlement and another 30 reaching some type of conciliation. More than 25 years later, the Dispute Resolution Center, renamed in 1991, handles over 52,000 telephone calls a year, with 3,600 new intakes. In 2006, the DRC conducted over 2,500 mediations with a settlement rate of 60-70  percent and a client satisfaction rate of over 95 percent. DRC volunteers donated over 9,000 hours of mediation.

“We are constantly striving to identify areas where we can provide or expand our services,” said Brent Benoit, an attorney with Locke Liddell & Sapp and chair of the DRC. “These are areas that are not profit centers for private mediators, but are extremely beneficial to the public.”

From its initial community-based mediation services, the Dispute Resolution Center has vastly expanded its programs to include many other types of mediation, as well as arbitration and moderated settlement conferences. Current DRC programs include:

•Community-based Mediation Program – mediates cases such as landlord/tenant disputes, consumer/merchant disputes, conflicts between neighbors, employer/employee conflict, minor assaults, property disputes, and conflicts between friends and family.

•Litigation Program – mediates cases referred by district, county civil and JP courts, including personal injury, contract, product liability and probate. The amount in dispute may not exceed $100,000.

•Juvenile Mediation Program – mediates cases involving minor assaults, school fights, parent/adolescent conflict, and vandalism.

•Family Mediation Program – cases may be referred by the courts or by counsel and concern issues such as property or finances; custody, visitation or child support; modification; or grandparent access.

•Special Education Mediation Program – most cases are referred by schools or attorneys and involve special education programs, year-round school or school access issues.

•Victim Offender Mediation Program – cases are referred by the courts, counsel, or law enforcement and may involve assaults, accidental homicide or property destruction.

•Child Protection Mediation Program – mediates cases involving the removal of children from their home by the Texas Department of Protective and Regulatory Services (CPS). All parties must be represented by legal counsel.

•Truancy Mediation Program – cases are referred by schools or Justice of the Peace Courts and involve truancy, excused/non-excused absence disputes, or school policy.

•Long-term Care Mediation Program – this is a pilot program in which cases are referred by administrators of long-term care facilities or the Harris County ombudsman program, as well as facility residents or family members.

•The DRC provides the following mediation training: 40-hour Basic Mediation Training; 24-hour Family Mediation Training; 16-hour Victim Offender/Juvenile Mediation Training; and 24-hour Child Protection Mediation Training.

“Many cases, which do not involve a lot of dollars but have highly emotional issues, especially  family and child protection cases, belong in the neutral, collaborative setting provided by the DRC,” said long-time attorney volunteer, Austin O’Toole, who has been recognized as an outstanding DRC volunteer by the Houston Bar Foundation. “A number of judges now recognize this and routinely refer these matters to mediation by volunteer mediators at the DRC.”

There are now 18 dispute resolution centers in Texas, and Houston’s DRC provided advice and information to each of them at startup, said Nick Hall, DRC’s executive director. Houston’s DRC remains the only dispute resolution center that is still sponsored by a local bar association. Others have become part of the county or a university, or a for-profit center. The Houston DRC still mediates the largest volume of cases among all Texas dispute resolution centers. And, the Houston DRC is one of the few dispute resolution centers in Texas that still charges no fees for mediation services.

The DRC has a panel of about 500 volunteers, but core groups of 15-20 volunteers handle most of the work within each program. Some volunteers may mediate only once or twice a year, but Hall said these volunteers also are important to the success of the program.

The biggest challenge the DRC faces, said Hall, is to find Spanish-speaking mediators. “We don’t have enough Spanish-speaking volunteers to do the outreach we would like to do in the Spanish-speaking community,” he said. “We can use volunteers from all walks of life in the Community Mediation Program. They have to take the training class, but they do not have to be attorneys to mediate community-based disputes.”

The Litigation Program and most other programs do require the volunteer mediators to be attorneys. The DRC offers the required training classes in its downtown office for a nominal administrative fee to offset costs. Volunteers say the rewards include practice in mediation techniques, networking with other mediators, and the satisfaction that comes from “giving back” to the community.

“The DRC provides the opportunity for lawyer/mediators to provide an important service to the community,” said Fred Simpson, an attorney with Jackson Walker LLP, who was recognized by the Houston Bar Foundation for his outstanding service to the DRC. “It is gratifying to help both parties in a dispute face each other and come to mutually agreeable solutions, even in situations where emotions run high.”

Although the DRC is sponsored by the Houston Bar Association, it now receives funding from Harris County through a contract negotiated by the HBA board of directors.

Hall is quick to point out that, while the support of the HBA and Harris County are crucial, it is volunteers that make the Houston DRC the most successful in the state. “We would not be able to do what we do without them,” he said. “We consider it a privilege to administer mediation programs for our volunteers.”

If you would like more information about the Dispute Resolution Center or if you would like to volunteer, please contact Nick Hall at 713-755-8274 or visit the DRC Web site, www.co.harris.tx.us/drc.

Tara Shockley is the communications director for the Houston Bar Association.