Judge William Thomas receives award for mediation efforts

Sixth Judicial District Senior Judge William Thomas recently was honored posthumously with a service award from the Iowa Association of Mediators for his visionary leadership in the district and across the state.

Thomas, 68, who died in February, was one of the most influential supporters of the judicial district's Family Mediation Program that started in 1996 and served as a model for the rest of the state. The association of statewide professional and volunteer mediators honored him with the A.M. Fink Service Award, which acknowledges outstanding service in the field of mediation and to the organization.

Annie Tucker, director of Mediation Services of Eastern Iowa, said Thomas is only the third recipient of this award, which is named after the treasurer and a board member and trainer of the association.

Thomas wasn't involved only with mediation statewide but also on the national level as a board member on the Academy of Family Mediators, which is now the Association for Conflict Resolution.

Retired 6th Judicial District Judge Marsha Beckelman said Thomas thought the best way to deal with family law issues was in a more 'private, less adversarial setting.”

'He thought it was better for them to come up with a resolution tailored to their own needs by sitting down with a well-trained mediator, instead of going into court,” Beckelman said. 'Studies have shown that people who have gone through mediation are less likely to end up back in court.”

Senior Judge David Remley, who supervises the court's mediation clinic, said Thomas was a real visionary - 'way ahead of his time” - and he thought mediation was a better way to protect children, who, he believed, could be harmed through the litigation process.

Tucker said after Thomas started the mediation program for the district, research was conducted in which 150 cases filed in 1997-1998 were reviewed. The sample cases consisted of 50 where the court made the decision, 50 where the parties reached agreement without mediation and 50 where the parties mediated their agreement.

The results showed that when the parties mediated an agreement, only 2 percent of those cases filed a modification, meaning they had to go into court to change the agreement, and 14 percent to 15 percent in the other cases without a mediator required modifications.

According to 2013 statistics, 30 percent of people in mediation reached an agreement on all issues and 41.5 percent reached agreement on some of their issues. Tucker said usually only 5 percent of the cases actually go to trial.

Tucker pointed out mediation can also save money. The estimated expense for mediation can range from $70 to $250 an hour, depending on issues involved, and the parties would split that cost. There also could be travel time or administrative fees, which some mediators charge.

Tom Viner, a Cedar Rapids attorney who handles family law cases, said if there's a chance to reach an agreement in mediation, it can save both sides thousands of dollars and time. A dissolution case resulting in a three-day trial could cost $25,000 to $35,000 in attorney fees and trial costs.

'And this could be over a course of a year and a half before it's resolved,” Viner said. 'I've waited a year on a decision in some cases.”

Viner pointed out that mediation is required in Linn and most other counties in these cases before it can go to trial. They don't have to make an agreement but many times, Viner said, a portion of the issues may be resolved and then the attorneys come in and litigate the remaining issues.

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