Most of you who are reading this article have taken advantage of the Court's Alternative Dispute Resolution services. In the old days this office was called "the arbitration office." This, of course, has all changed with the advent of many more options for dispute resolution. The number of private ADR providers has exploded over the last decade, offering a plethora of wonderful, happily retired judicial officers who have traded in their black robes for silk suits. These retired judges offer attorneys a wonderful service that did not exist, for the most part, 15 years ago. In the good old days you had judges like Jack Tenner sitting in his downtown courtroom like a tyrant, threatening liti- gants to settle ... or else. Judge Tenner's threats were very effective.

Although there are now numerous capable private mediators, there are still thousands of cases which are sent to the Court's ADR office for assignment. So here's the problem. WE NEED YOUR HELP. The court sends out hundreds of cases a month through the ADR office to volunteer hearing officers like me, Jack Girardi and Steven Maloney. But we need plaintiff attorneys with civil experience to volunteer for the panel. Some years ago when the state had no money, arbitrators received $150.00 per hearing. For most this amount represented a thank you for taking the time out of your practice to hear the matter, but some, who will remain nameless, handled up to10 arbitra- tions a day. Not bad. $1,500 per day, low overhead. That all changed when the court was forced to "temporarily" eliminate the fee, promising reinstatement when there's money. I suspect it is now possible, but, well, you know.

The number of hearings assigned monthly out of the Central Los Angeles Courthouse amount to (supply number), and the total number of attorney hearing officers are (xxx ) so, there's the prob- lem. More cases than attorneys who can hear them. This means that for many litigants, the choice is to have a non-lawyer hearing officer, which is not, in and of itself, a bad thing. There are some trained non-lawyer volunteers who are skilled mediators, however, most lack any real understanding of the legal issues, which can be critical for a successful mediation. We need experienced, caring, talented hearing officers. Without a competent supply of volunteers, the ADR process will be waste of time. My personal experiences suggest that when the volunteer is someone who appreciates the legal issues, knows the area of law involved and can speak from personal experience, the probabili- ty of success is much higher. I have been involved in complex cases that have settled, without the need to pay the silk suits, because experienced attorneys volunteered their time to help resolve the case.

Volunteering serves multiple purposes. You have the Court's eternal thanks, you have good hearing officers available for your cases that are sent to ADR, and you have an efficient court sys- tem with open court rooms for you to try your case. On top of all that, you can learn a great deal by acting as a hearing officer. Here's what you need to do:

Contact the ADR..... The ADR office is sort of like the Red Cross. It's there when you need it, and having good, competent help can be a life saver. Save a life - volunteer. The life you save may be your own.