Parallel Justice: Creating Causes of Action for Mandatory Mediation

Hamline University School of Law Professor Marie A. Failinger has authored Parallel Justice: Creating Causes of Action for Mandatory Mediation, University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform, Vol. 47, p. 359 (2014 Forthcoming).   In her article, Professor Failinger advocates for the adoption of certain mandatory mediation-only causes of action in the United States legal system.

Here is the abstract:

The American common law system should adopt court-connected mandatory mediation as a parallel system of justice for some cases that are currently not justiciable, such as wrongs caused by constitutionally protected behavior. As evidence that such a system is practical, this article describes systemic and ethical parallels between court-connected mediation and the rise of the equity courts in medieval England, demonstrating that there are no insurmountable practical objections to the creation of “mediation-only” causes of action. The article then explores the constitutional concerns surrounding the idea of “mandatory mediation-only” causes of action, using constitutional hate speech and invasion of privacy cases to test the validity of these concerns.

This and other scholarly articles published by Professor Failinger may be downloaded free of charge from the Social Science Research Network.