The court system supports community- and court-based programs that offer mediation, arbitration and other dispute resolution options as an alternative to litigation. These processes are available for a wide variety of matters such as family, neighbor and business disputes. Mediation participants often report high levels of satisfaction with the process and the outcome.
Contact Information
Call for Mediators
Queens Surrogates Court serves a wide variety of litigants, including persons of varying age, race, ethnicity, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, physical or mental ability, religion, socioeconomic and family status. The Court’s Mediation Programs recognize that neutrals with a wide variety of cultural and life experiences enrich the alternate dispute resolution process by bringing diverse perspectives to resolving disputes. To accomplish these goals, it is important that the Queens Surrogates Mediation Program Rosters attract and retain neutrals who represent a range of personal and professional backgrounds who can, thereby, better serve and instill confidence in participants in the alternate dispute resolution process. To that end, qualified applicants of all diverse backgrounds and experiences are encouraged to apply for admission to the Mediation Rosters in Queens Surrogates Court.
Mediator Requirements
The Surrogate shall establish, and the ADR Program Contact shall maintain, a roster of trained mediators ("The Roster") for the Program which shall be available on the Court website. To be eligible to join the Roster as a Mediator, a person shall satisfy the training and experience requirements of Part 146 of the Rules of the Chief Administrative Judge as follows:
All Court Roster Mediators shall have received at least 24 hours of basic mediation training, 16 hours of additional training in the specific mediation techniques applicable to Surrogates matters. In addition, all Court Roster Mediators shall have recent experience mediating actual cases in the area of Trusts and Estates and Surrogates matters. Mediation experience can be achieved by mediating at least three (3) Court cases in a New York State, or completing a Court Mediation Apprenticeship.
A Court Mediation Apprenticeship shall include:
- observing at least one (1) mediation, regardless of case type;
- co-mediating three (3) Court cases in the subject area of the types of cases to be referred to them;
- debriefing all observations and mediations with a Court Roster mediator or ADR Program Contact; and
- receiving an evaluation by a Court Roster mediator or ADR Program Contact.
All Court Roster Mediators must attend six hours of approved Continuing Education relevant to mediating in their respective practice areas every two years.
Fulfillment of these requirements does not guarantee acceptance onto the Roster. Final placement on a Roster or continuation on a Roster is in the discretion of the District Administrative Judge under Part 146 of the Rules of the Chief Administrator.
ADR Referrals
Proceedings in the Queens County Surrogate’s Court are presumptively eligible for ADR, subject to the discretion of the Surrogate. Referrals to ADR are made via Order of Reference. Depending on the referral, parties may select to pursue mediation with a Court Roster Mediator, Community Dispute Resolution Center, Judicial Hearing Officer, or Private Mediator. The Court may continue appearances of the matter during the mediation process. Discovery may also continue at the discretion of the Court. The Surrogate's Court ADR Program Referral Guide provides a general overview of Surrogate’s Court referrals to ADR in NYC. The Queens Surrogate’s ADR Rules offer information on ADR referrals, the mediation process, mediator compensation, and other ADR related guidelines specific to their court.
Community Dispute Resolution Centers
You may seek the services of a Community Dispute Resolution Center (CDRC), which offers free and low-cost mediation. There is a CDRC for every county in New York State. They can mediate court cases, as well as disputes that are not in court. Many CDRCs offer virtual mediation. If a court refers your case to mediation, consult first with the referring court about your options: in some courts and in some case types, mediation services may be free of charge.
Definitions
Frequently Asked Questions
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Are there exceptions to participation in Mediation?
#ADR Generally? It is presumed that all contested cases will be directed to some form of ADR unless the Surrogate determines, upon a party’s application or its own evaluation, that there is good cause for exempting a case. For more on exemptions, please review the Surrogate’s ADR Rules.
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Community Dispute Resolution Centers
#You may seek the services of a Community Dispute Resolution Center (CDRC), which offers free and low-cost mediation. There is a CDRC for every county in New York State. They can mediate court cases, as well as disputes that are not in court. Many CDRCs offer virtual mediation. If a court refers your case to mediation, consult first with the referring court about your options: in some courts and in some case types, mediation services may be free of charge.
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Cost?
#Mediators on the Court Roster have agreed to provide the first 90-120 minutes of mediation free of charge. Some mediation providers may offer additional, free mediation services to qualifying families, while others may offer a sliding fee scale. Community Dispute Resolution Centers (CDRCs) may charge a nominal (small) administrative fee but are, in many instances, free of charge.
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How can I obtain information on Language Access?
#The Unified Court System is committed to ensuring language access in our courts. This commitment extends to our ADR initiative. Where one of the parties or a participant in the mediation has limited ability to hear or proficiency in communicating in English the party, participant, or counsel for the party may contact the ADR Coordinator for assistance securing an interpreter or other required service.
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Right to Counsel/Right to Assigned Counsel (where applicable)
#Parties have a right to have an attorney present with them during mediation. Attorneys are strongly encouraged to prepare clients for mediation sessions and assist with drafting agreements. Parties do not need to agree to anything in mediation without first speaking with an attorney.
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What notice will I receive?
#The Court will provide the parties with a written Court Order (sometimes referred to as an “Order of Reference”) which will inform them of the Court’s referral to ADR.
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When will I be referred to ADR?
#Parties may be referred to ADR at any stage during the proceeding. However, one of the goals of presumptive ADR is to refer cases as early as practicable to limit the financial and emotional costs of litigation. As such, a case could be referred to ADR during a preliminary conference or before extensive discovery takes place. Each court makes this determination based on the case type and the resources available.
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Who Can attend?
#When parties have lawyers, some forms of ADR might involve only the lawyers. If the people involved in the case wish to participate in ADR or the court asks them to take part, they will always be allowed to bring their lawyer.
People can always ask to stop the ADR session so they have time to talk to a lawyer or have a lawyer assigned.
ADR can be very flexible and customized. So as long as everyone agrees, there are many ways that other people, who are not parties in the case or the lawyers could also be invited to join in an ADR session.
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Who is delivering the service?
#Judges, Court Attorney Referees, Judicial Hearing Officers, Law Clerks, Court Attorneys, private attorneys, Court Roster Mediators and CDRCs.
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Whom do I contact if I have questions?
#Parties should refer to the Court Order (“Order of Reference”) for instructions on how to proceed and who to contact with questions.
Roster of Mediators
Parties and/or Attorney may select a mediator from those who sit on the Queens Surrogates Roster, searchable below.