Presumptive mediation has been implemented by the Brooklyn Supreme Court on all cases filed as of September 3^rd. The goal is to move cases through court faster because the volume of cases is one of the highest in the country.

Following a stakeholders meeting that also involved representative from more than 20 local bar associations, the plan was created to deal with just about all of the civil cases brought in Kings County Supreme Court. It is estimated this will include approximately 20,000 cases in the first year of the program.

The first batch of scheduling notices was sent out recently and people who received them were told to come to the courthouse 90 days from the time their Request for Judicial Intervention is filed. When they arrive at the courthouse, they will be assigned to a judge, court attorney, judicial hearing officer, or third party for the mediation. The court will have a list of qualified candidates to serve as third party neutrals.

Brooklyn is not the first place in the country to utilize presumptive mediation. The strategy is gaining increasingly popularity in both federal and state courts. It has been used successfully for matrimonial cases in Brooklyn already and then that program was expanded statewide. It has a supporter in Deputy Chief Administrative Judge for the New York City Courts George Silver. In a lecture at the Columbian Lawyers Association of Brooklyn, he talked about the advantages of the program. The Administrative Judge for Kings County Supreme Court is also a supporter of the program.