The first instance state court in Brooklyn (Kings County) recently initiated a test program requiring civil cases to be mediated before proceeding to trial. The goal of the program is to alleviate some of the time and financial costs that civil litigation places on Brooklyn's court system, which is burdened by over 50,000 cases at the trial court level. The program will initially only apply to cases involving the Metropolitan Transit Authority of the State of New York, a provider of public transportation. The mediators will be selected from a group of volunteers who will not be compensated. Mediation in these test cases will commence after discovery is complete and prior to the calendaring of a trial date. The court intends to extend this program, if successful, to a wide variety of civil cases. For further information please contact Allison Alcasabas or Annemarie Jones in our New York office.
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