Estimated read time: 4-5 minutes
- Mediation Day in Salt Lake City aids low-income residents with free family law legal assistance.
- Organized by Utah's Association of Family and Conciliation Courts, it resolves family court cases with volunteer mediators, lawyers, judges and more.
- The event lightens court dockets, helps people in need and garners support from judges and commissioners.
SALT LAKE CITY — It is not every day you see judges, lawyers and clients walking into Matheson Courthouse in Salt Lake City with smiles on their faces.
Then again, Mediation Day is no ordinary day.
Organized by the Utah chapter of the Association of Family and Conciliation Courts, Mediation Day welcomes low-income residents referred by the courts to meet with volunteer lawyers, mediators, judges and/or commissioners who try to resolve their cases on that day. Whatever people are fighting over in family court, Mediation Day volunteers will help resolve. The latest day was held last week.
Clients are happy because a situation they have been struggling with is done, and for free. Lawyers are smiling because they are helping out people who need the help, something they actually like to do. Judges and commissioners are pleased because the resolutions of these cases mean there is room on the docket for other difficult situations. It's a win-win-win all the way around.
"See how casual we are? That's part of the magic of this group," said Todd Wetsel, president of the Utah chapter of the Association of Family and Conciliation Courts. He is also a mediator. "Whatever it is they're fighting over in family court — divorce, custody battle, whatever they're fighting over — they can come here if they're referred and get the best mediators, one of the best lawyers, the judge, a mental health professional if there are children involved, a paralegal to do document preparation, anything associated with family court, for free."
The Association of Family and Conciliation Courts is an international organization that brings together people who work in family law with hopes of benefiting the field. It offers trainings, networking events, discussions about various topics and more. The Utah chapter is one of the newest groups and, according to Wetsel, one of the fastest growing. The local chapter also has mental health professionals as members as well as a real estate agent who specializes in helping people going through a divorce.
Eighteen months ago, the local association held its first Mediation Day and was not completely sure what to expect. What the group discovered was a need in the community — specifically Salt Lake County — for cases to be resolved with a mediator and others in the field. During the first Mediation Day, volunteers handled 22 cases and resolved 21, according to Wetsel. It appeared they had a successful event on their hands, so they organized future Mediation Days.
Mediation Day is now held every six months. The requirements to participate are generally the same as the first event: Family law judges or commissioners refer a case to the association for Mediation Day. The judge or commissioner refers cases they believe could be resolved with a mediator but have not been because the pair cannot afford one. Each side comes to the courthouse and sits in separate rooms while mediators and lawyers go back and forth, finding compromises and hashing out the details. When an agreement is reached, the lawyer takes the paperwork to the judge to sign, and that is it. The case is resolved.
And the dockets are lightened.
This year, 22 cases were addressed at Matheson Courthouse. Organizers say they would like to take more people but would need more space to do so. As it is, 44 rooms are needed due to two sides existing for each case. Not many buildings can provide more room than the courthouse, organizers said.
Mediation Day has become popular not only with Salt Lake County judges but with those from other counties who are interested in bringing it to their spaces. Local judges and commissioners support the program and encourage other family law professionals to do the same.
Commissioner Michelle Blomquist has been a part of past Mediation Days as well as Friday's event. She has seen people whose cases she helped resolve in the past and found it great to see them out and about. People need this legal help, she said, and being able to provide this service to people who otherwise could not afford it is nice.
"It really is an amazing day. ... It focuses on people who don't have the ability to get the professional support and advice," Blomquist said. "I love this program because so many people are volunteering their time to come and help."
