Training, Certification, and Credentials for Dispute Resolution Professionals

Training: Mediators What does certification mean? What are the court ordered/appointed mediator training requirements for mediators in Maryland?

Mediator Training
There are no national training requirements or credentials for mediators. States vary widely in their approach to regulating mediation. There are 5 general ways that people find a mediator. Each may tell you something about the experience and training of the mediator.

• Private mediators – professionals who offer their services to the public. Maryland does not require training or certification for a private mediator.
  
• Court affiliated mediators – Maryland does have requirements for a court ordered/appointed mediator.
  
• Mediators affiliated with a mediation program – Most independent mediation programs impose their own training or experience standards on mediators.
• Mediators listed through national or state nonprofit professional organizations – There is an increasing trend toward mediator rosters and credentialing programs through national or state professional mediation organizations. These offer referral lists or directories of members. Some national mediation membership organizations set training and experience requirements and ethical standards for their practicing members.
  
• Mediators listed in commercial mediation directories - Many mediation referral services also impose training, experience or other requirements on mediators who wish to be included in their rosters.

Any individual mediator may fit into any or all of the above categories. Many private mediators, and most of those who work for or are associated with mediation organizations and programs, have training, experience, or both. A mediator may have a certificate of training completed. While the certificate is a confirmation that the person has successfully completed training, it does not necessarily confirm that the person has attained any level of competence.

What does certification mean?

Certification means that a certain group has set a standard and that it conducts a screening process to identify people who meet that standard. The value to the certification for your case depends on the type of group giving the certification. Currently states do not offer certification. However, many courts and some professional organizations offer rosters or referrals to people based on the individuals having met

• certain standards of education/training,
  
• scores on a specialized exam,
  
• experience in the field or
  
• a combination of these factors.
  

What about other states?
As in Maryland, most other states impose training or experience standards on mediators who practice in court-funded mediation programs. Likewise, in most states, a person can offer private mediation services without taking a class, passing a test or having a license or certification.

Currently, no state offers a statewide certification program for mediators.

What are the court ordered/appointed mediator training requirements for mediators in Maryland?
In Maryland, there is a list of mediators to which the court makes referrals. These “court registered” mediators must meet certain requirements.

Under Maryland Rule 17-104, “Court registered” mediators of non-domestic law matters must

• be at least 21 years old,
  
• have a college degree (unless waived by the court),
  
• have completed an approved 40 hour basic mediation program an, and
  
• be approved by the Administrative Judge of the court.
  

To mediate in domestic law matters and be listed by the court, a mediator must have additional training.

• To mediate in custody or visitation matters, a mediator must meet the basic requirements noted above and have completed an additional 20 hours of training in an approved program relating to child custody and visitation.
  
• To mediate in martial property matters, a mediator must meet the basic requirements noted above and have completed an additional 20 hours of training in an approved marital property mediation training.
  

What “court registered” does not mean - Being included on an approved list of mediators for a particular court does not mean that the person is an experienced mediator but only that the mediator has received the required training. Also any mediator can help you work out an agreement that you can file with the court as part of an ongoing case. “Court registered” simply means that the person is eligible to receive referral from the court.

Source: Maryland Legal Assistance Network and the Center for Dispute Resolution at the University of Maryland.  Updated by the Maryland State Law Library (MSLL).

Last review date: 10/31/08 (PLL/M.A.J.)

About this website. The Maryland State Law Library, a court-related agency of the Maryland Judiciary, sponsors this site. The website was developed (1999-2007) as part of an access to justice initiative by the Maryland Legal Assistance Network (MLAN) in collaboration with a number of legal services providers serving low and moderate income Marylanders.  In the absence of file-specific attribution or copyright, the Maryland State Law Library may hold the copyright to parts of this website. You are free to copy the information for your own use or for other non-commercial purposes with the following language “Source: Maryland's People’s Law Library – www.peoples-law.org. © Maryland State Law Library, 2007.”

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