The Martha’s Vineyard Mediation Program and Edgartown library sponsor a program next week looking at potential family conflict over vacation properties.
For nearly 30 years, it has solved disputes that were heading to small claims court. It has helped resolve differences between business partners, those going through divorce or custody cases, and it has even run seminars on how town conservation commissions and other agencies deal with emotional and consequential issues involving land use and planning.
The Martha's Vineyard Mediation Program is the silent partner
of the Edgartown District Court. While what happens in court is public
and sometimes pyrotechnic, mediation takes disputes off the docket and
behind closed doors. It's a voluntary alternative that allows
disputants, facilitated by two mediators, to work together toward a
mutually agreeable solution.
Last Thursday, past and current members of the Martha’s Vineyard Center for Dispute Resolution celebrated their 25th anniversary in the one place they have been so effective at keeping people out of for years: the Edgartown district court.
Formerly the Martha’s Vineyard Mediation Program, the organization trains mediators who try to facilitate peaceful resolutions between opposing parties in a confidential, constructive and empathetic fashion, before either party resorts to formal litigation, which can often turn recriminatory and divisive.
