Title: In Re Amendment to Fla. Rules of Civil Procedure 1.700-1.780 (Mediation)
Citation: 563 So. 2d 85
Docket Number: 75151
State: Florida
Issuer: Florida Supreme Court
Date: June 21, 1990

563 So. 2d 85 (1990)
In re AMENDMENT TO FLORIDA RULES OF CIVIL PROCEDURE 1.700-1.780 (MEDIATION).
No. 75151.

Supreme Court of Florida.
June 21, 1990.
PER CURIAM.
By administrative order of July 26, 1989, this Court appointed a special committee on mediation and arbitration rules as a standing committee of the Supreme Court. With that appointment, this Court further directed the committee to develop a report recommending changes in procedural rules governing mediation and arbitration, recommending standards of conduct governing mediators and arbitrators, and suggesting needed legislation to enhance alternative dispute resolution programs in Florida. The committee has filed its report on proposed rules changes with this Court. We published these proposed changes, received comments thereon, heard oral arguments, and solicited and received additional comments from the committee.[1]
The committee has worked diligently, tirelessly, and objectively in its efforts to fashion appropriate rules. The use of mediation and arbitration in conjunction with traditional legal procedures is currently a developing concept. As experience and use develop, additional rule changes will be likely.[2] We placed a heavy responsibility *86 on our committee, which, after argument, agreed to some suggested changes to its proposals. For the most part, we accept its final views.
Attached hereto, as an appendix, are the rules as amended and now approved by the Court. They shall become effective July 1, 1990.
It is so ordered.
EHRLICH, C.J., and OVERTON, McDONALD, SHAW, BARKETT, GRIMES and KOGAN, JJ., concur.
[1]  In its report, the committee stated:

The Committee's proposed rule changes reflect a blend of three philosophical approaches. First, the Committee sought to take maximum advantage of the one year of practical experience Florida has had in court-sanctioned ADR procedures. Based on this experience, the Committee is recommending rather substantial deletions from certain parts of the old rules which, although originally implemented with the best of intentions, have proven to serve no real purpose as procedural guidelines. Second, the Committee sought to enhance the overall consensual atmosphere of ADR in Florida by putting more control of the process in the hands of the parties involved. Hence, suggested modifications of the rules have been made to allow more direct involvement by the parties in initiating mediation, selection of mediators, timing of the mediation conference, and initiating enforcement procedures. Finally, the Committee was keenly aware of the colloquial axiom, "If it ain't broke, don't fix it." Every effort was thus made to preserve the functions that are working.
[2]  We recognize that the qualifications for mediators should be placed somewhere other than these rules of civil procedure. Other rules regarding the standards of conduct of mediators will be forthcoming, at which time it is likely that rule 1.760 will be relocated.