THE OKLAHOMA BAR JOURNAL 40 | MARCH 2025 Statements or opinions expressed in the Oklahoma Bar Journal are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect those of the Oklahoma Bar Association, its officers, Board of Governors, Board of Editors or staff. By Phil Johnson Early Settlement Mediation: Making Oklahoma a More Peaceful State Alternative Dispute Resolution “The Early Settlement Mediation program has been a tremendous help to the courts in Oklahoma, providing mediation services to parties in conflict and giving them an opportunity to resolve their disputes in a peaceable manner. The volunteer mediators are quite skilled, and they do a great job of guiding the disputing parties through the mediation process. In most cases, the mediators are successful in helping the parties reach a resolution to their disputes.” —Justice M. John Kane IV The Alternative Dispute Resolution System, an Oklahoma Supreme Court Administrative Office of the Courts program, is recognized as having one of the top community-based, court- connected statewide conflict resolution programs in the nation. It was presented with the Golden Hammer Award from former U.S. Vice President Al Gore for making our communities and government more efficient. Through 13 regional Early Settlement Mediation program centers, all 77 counties in Oklahoma have free mediation services available to all who wish to negotiate interpersonal matters. In fiscal year 2024, the Early Settlement Mediation program received 5,835 requests for mediation services and mediated over 4,100 cases, with an average resolution rate of over 70%. In 1983, a group of legislators, including Sen. John McCune IV and Sen. Robert Henry, worked to get the Dispute Resolution Act, 12 O.S. 1801 et seq., passed by the Oklahoma Legislature and signed into law by the governor. The act stated that mediation services be designed “to provide to all citizens of this state convenient access to dispute resolution proceedings which are fair, effective, inexpensive and expeditious.” Many states across the country had passed similar legislation to provide an out-of-court opportunity for disputing parties to resolve their conflicts using a neutral mediator. In 1985, the Legislature authorized that $2 out of every civil case court filing would be used to fund the newly established program, in addition to a $5 fee from each party wanting to use the service on cases not filed in court (note that in 2016, the Legislature passed and the governor signed new legislation that increased the fee to $7 and did away with the $5 per-party fee for noncourt cases). The Supreme Court of Oklahoma adopted the rules and procedures for the Dispute Resolution Act, 12 O.S. 1801 et seq., in 1986, providing guidelines for the establishment of dispute resolution centers. A 15-member Dispute Resolution Advisory Board, appointed by the Supreme Court of Oklahoma, serves in an advisory role to the administrative director of the courts, who oversees the Alternative Dispute
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