Volunteers Needed for ADR Pilot Program
As part of an Access to Justice initiative, the ABA Section of Dispute Resolution is working with the Veterans Administration in Memphis to create a pilot project using an Online Dispute Resolution (ODR) platform to deliver services. This ODR platform will provide a free process that veterans can use to resolve parenting plan issues.
The platform is provided at no charge through the nonprofit Internet Bar Organization (see www.internetbar.org) working with the American Bar Association. We are asking members of the Tennessee Association of Professional Mediators to volunteer to serve as online mediators using the platform provided through the Internet Bar Organization.
You will be trained on how to use the platform and will have access to ongoing webinar trainings including programs on ethics.
As a volunteer, and you will be asked to work with veterans referred to the program by the Veterans Administration's social work department. The VA will screen veterans to ensure their legal problem is appropriate for the pilot prior to referral. Volunteer Mediators will be assigned on a rotating basis and will be able to decline a referral in which instance, the case will be referred to the next mediator in the rotation.
Because this is a pilot project, we will be asking the volunteer mediators to assist us in assessing the platform and how it works. We will be actively seeking your input on both the platform as well as the referral process. Ultimately, we hope to use the platform through the American Bar Association’s ABAFreeLegalAnswers portal to provide low income persons across the United States with an option to choose ODR as a process to resolve disputes in a variety of substantive areas of law.
Click here to find the one-page volunteer application.
We hope you are intrigued enough to volunteer to get this project off the ground! If you have any questions or concerns, please contact Linda Warren Seely at 731 217 8013 or linda.seely@americanbar.org
Note: Since this is online, it is not necessary that you be located in Memphis, Tennessee.