Administrative Judge Julie Schafer at the Medina County Domestic Relations Court wanted to make the experience of resolving legal disputes more efficient and less stressful for those involved. As a step in that direction, the court held its first-ever Settlement Week in early August.

The initiative brought together court officials, legal professionals, and experienced outside mediators to resolve disputes in domestic relations cases in one day – eliminating the delays that typically arise from multiple hearing dates and status conferences in these cases.

Settlement Weeks are managed by courts, which select cases suitable for mediation and schedule the mediations during a designated week. The parties agree to participate in the program. The mediator, a neutral third party, guides the parties as they work to resolve their differences.

Judge Schafer said their goal for Settlement Week was to have families walk in and out of court with a final resolution that day. She pointed to one longstanding, emotionally charged divorce case that was part of their Settlement Week. The dispute had been stuck in a cycle for more than a year with no end in sight.

“Every time the case came before the court, tensions were so high that the proceedings seemed to move backward rather than forward,” Judge Schafer explained.

Both sides sat down during Settlement Week with the mediator and their attorneys to work through each issue calmly and methodically, the judge said. The parties reached a complete agreement and had it formally entered on the record in court that day.

“High-conflict cases require concentrated, focused efforts. When you stretch these cases over multiple hearings and many months, it can actually intensify the conflict,” Judge Schafer said. “But when parties walk out of court with a resolution in hand, it gives them something even more important – closure.”

Over the five days of Settlement Week, 31 cases were mediated, with 18 reaching partial or full settlements that day. Seven cases were scheduled for continued mediation. One was resolved shortly after Settlement Week, and three await a second mediation.

Judge Schafer noted that Settlement Week highlights the benefit of focused, intentional efforts for resolving complex cases.

“It shortens the overall time spent in the court system, gets the stress of litigation out of their daily lives, and, most importantly, helps the children involved by reducing the conflict that so often surrounds these disputes,” she said. “Settlement Week represents the kind of forward-thinking, case-centered justice we strive for in Medina County.”

Settlement Week is in use in several Ohio courts and has successfully reduced trial dockets and over-age civil cases in Ohio courts.