Clark County Family Mediation ODR Case Study

In the southernmost and largest county in the state of Nevada, Clark County serves roughly one million people. Serving such a large population places a large responsibility on the county’s legal system. Not only are more than 100,000 marriages performed in Las Vegas each year, but Nevada also has a divorce rate in the double digits.

The Challenge

In Clark County, the Family Mediation Center (FMC) handles mediation for contested child custody cases. In 2017, the FMC’s 11 full-time mediators managed 3,900 cases, averaging around 354 cases per mediator, per year (or almost 30 per month).

For contested divorce cases involving children, typical court dates occur about eight weeks from filing. Scheduling the first in-person mediator takes an additional three to four weeks. This leaves limited time to work with the mediator on a parenting plan, especially when dealing with various issues and disagreements, such as:

• Legal Custody
• Physical Custody
• Vacation Time
• Holiday/Special Times
• Exchanges

The Test

In 2017, the Clark County FMC initiated a pilot run of Tyler Technologies’ Online Dispute Resolution system for Parenting Plans in three of their 20 family courts. After testing the solution in a few courts, the FMC demonstrated significant time and cost savings for parents. Now, Clark County has expanded the use of Online Dispute Resolution to 13 more courts, establishing it as the initial step in mediation.

The solution allows couples going through a divorce to resolve their issues online, potentially saving money (depending on the court fee structure) and reducing the time spent with mediators and in court. It’s especially helpful for divorce cases involving child custody issues, as it helps parents avoid potentially heated face-to-face meetings. All communication between the couples is managed electronically within the Online Dispute Resolution system.

Ideally, a couple can resolve 100% of their issues through ODR without the need for in-person mediation. For parents who do ultimately need a mediator, their cases are usually much closer to resolution because most couples are able to reach some initial terms of agreement leveraging the online tool.

The Results

The results from Clark County’s three-court pilot run with Online Dispute Resolution showed:

• Of the 57 cases sent to mediation, 19 had both sides using Tyler’s online system, a 33% adoption rate, higher than in other online systems.
• Successful party-to-party negotiation was completed in these cases in an average of about six days.
• The fastest agreement was reached online in four days.
• When both parties participated, more that 50% came to resolution online; of those 8% used a mediator, and 46% were negotiated directly between the parties online.
• In the remaining 46%, parties agreed on 47% of the topics they were discussing. These cases did involve an in-person mediation after the solution process, but were almost half resolved, saving a lot of face-to-face time.
• 100% of cases using party-to-party negotiation reached a resolution outside of court hours.

The Benefits

Family mediation centers benefit from this enhanced access to justice through increased efficiency as parties can do most or all of their own negotiation without a mediator.

Parents benefit in several ways when opting to use Online Dispute Resolution:

• The solution is currently free for divorcing couples unless they request a moderator.
• Communication and negotiation are both simplified for divorcing parents:
  • Online communication happens at each person’s own pace, allowing thoughtful responses and reducing emotional exchanges.
  • Parents can accept or reject settlement offers online, and all communication is digitally tracked.
  • Relevant documents are easily uploaded.
  • The stress of face-to-face interaction is greatly reduced when all drafting and accepting of agreement terms can take place online.
  • Online Dispute Resolution is accessible to parents on their own schedules, even outside court hours.
  • The solution expands the public’s access to justice, helping people to achieve positive outcomes with little or no court assistance.

Summary

Early indications of Clark County’s pilot suggested that Online Dispute Resolution will benefit the community and its court by saving time and increasing efficiency with staff mediators. Today, by expanding the use of Online Dispute Resolution to 16 total family courts, Clark County’s District Court continues to improve access and provide more convenient resolution for the families served.