Mediation

Effective for all civil cases filed on and after March 1, 2005, a court supervised mediation program will be available to provide a prompt, equitable and inexpensive alternative method of dispute resolution for matters that would otherwise enter the mandatory court supervised Arbitration program, that is, cases that have a probable jury award value not in excess of forty thousand dollars ($50,000) per plaintiff.

Mediation is a process whereby a neutral third person, called a mediator, acts to encourage and facilitate the resolution of a dispute between two or more parties.  It is an informal and non-adversarial process with the objective of helping the disputing parties reach a mutually acceptable and voluntary agreement.  In mediation, decision-making authority rests with the parties.  The role of the mediator includes, but it is not limited to, assisting the parties in identifying issues, fostering joint problem solving, and exploring settlement alternatives.

Cases enter mediation only by way of agreement from both sides of the dispute pursuant to written stipulation filed prior to the initiation of arbitration proceedings, and all mediations must take place no later than 60 days from the date of the mediator’s appointment.  Mediators are selected from a qualified court panel list of trained, experienced and qualified mediators.  Any matter not resolved in mediation automatically enters the Short Trial Program (“STP”) subject to a party’s timely right to file a request to remove the case from the STP and return it to  the District Court trial docket. Parties may agree to bypass mediation altogether and enter the STP directly.

The Nevada Mediation Program is overseen by the Alternative Dispute Resolution (“ADR”) Office, which also administers Arbitration and the Short Trial Program.  The ADR Commissioner and his staff are always available to solve any problem and answer any questions regarding arbitration, mediation and the STP.  Please call (702) 671-4493.  Rules and Forms are available to download at no cost on this web site.  We have added the ability to purchase the Nevada ADR Rules and Forms on a floppy disk in addition to the rules and form packets available for purchase at the ADR Office.

Form Packets and Rules

• Arbitration On-Line Rules and Forms Packets
• Mediation On-Line Rules and Forms Packets
• Short Trial On-Line Rules and Forms Packets

To view many of our forms, please obtain Adobe Acrobat Reader. Users can obtain a free copy of Acrobat Reader by clicking on this link.