Early Settlement Mediation receives state funding to help parties reach agreements that resolve conflicts for free to help the parties save lawyer and court fees while helping reduce the number of small claims and civil matters on courts’ dockets. PHOTO BY NICHOLAS GEISLER
Early Settlement Mediation offers free service to settle conflicts out of court By Sunnie Dawn Smith
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n this day and age, scams are everywhere. In fact, it is such a common thing that if someone says something is “free,” chances are most people will shake their heads in cynical disbelief. However, one thing that actually is free and does what it says it does is Early Settlement Mediation, which gives people a chance to settle their disputes out of court at no cost to themselves thanks to funding from the State of Oklahoma, Jorjia Cash originally came to this program after graduating with her degree in legal studies from East Central University. She worked as a paralegal and was aware of the program through her job. When the director position came 6 • www.adahub.com
open, she felt like it would be a good fit for her. Though Cash is the director of the east central program – located in room K102 in the Memorial Student Union on the ECU campus – her office actually serves seven different counties, including Pontotoc, Pottawatomie, Coal, Garvin, Hughes, Okfuskee and Seminole. The Early Settlement Mediation Program was originally created by the Alternative Dispute Resolution Act passed by state legislators, and it governs everything that they do. It was designed to provide free conflict resolution options for Oklahomans. This helps average Oklahomans keep their own expenses
down, and it also frees up space in the court system. “Early Settlement Mediation is a great example of how the State of Oklahoma can invest a small amount of money to train volunteer mediators, which aid the overburdened court system by helping settle cases before they have to take up the judge’s time,” program supervisor Christine Pappas said. “And people are more invested in legal outcomes when they felt like they shaped the decision.” While this Early Settlement Mediation program is free, there are also private mediation programs that are not. While Cash can guarantee that their program is state-certified, this is also something
