2005
- RSI celebrates our 10th Anniversary.
- Executive Director Susan M. Yates is one of two American Bar Association representatives to the three-year process that revised the Model Standards of Conduct for Mediators, which are finalized this year. The Standards were promulgated by the ABA, the American Arbitration Association and the Association for Conflict Resolution.
- RSI creates a section devoted to the best resources on court ADR for The Conflict Resolution Information Source (CRInfo.org), a project of the University of Colorado.
2006
- The 17th Circuit of Illinois initiates a small claims mediation program. RSI assists with development of the program, helps coordinate the mediator training and creates report and evaluation forms.
- “An Overview of the Model Standards of Conduct for Mediators,” co-written by RSI Executive Director Susan M. Yates, is published in the Winter 2006 edition of the American Bar Association’s Dispute Resolution Magazine.
- RSI conducts an evaluation of the first 15 months of the 2nd Circuit Judicial Mediation Program, which serves divorcing parents in far downstate Illinois.
- RSI presents our Service to the Community Award to Hon. Jerome Lerner, Mediation Consultant for Rush University Medical Center and former RSI Executive Committee member.
2007
- RSI completes Accessing Justice through Mediation: Pathways for Poor and Low-Income Disputants, a study examining the potential for using mediation to enhance access to justice for poor and low-income Illinoisans. The study is funded by the Illinois Equal Justice Foundation (IEJF).
- RSI’s continuing work to develop mediation programs in Illinois becomes formalized as the Statewide Mediation Access Project (SMAP). SMAP, which is based on the findings of RSI’s Accessing Justice study, focuses on helping courts in downstate Illinois to develop mediation programs that promote use of mediation for poor and low-income disputants. SMAP is funded by the IEJF.
- RSI Director of Research Jennifer Shack completes the 2nd edition of Bibliographic Summary of Cost, Pace, and Satisfaction Studies of Court-Related Mediation Programs.
- RSI completes a JAMS Foundation-funded project to select and annotate samples of good court rules from around the country to assist courts in writing or amending rules for ADR programs and makes the project available on CourtADR.org.
- RSI and the Center for Conflict Resolution explore how to develop mediation programs to meet the legal needs of poor and low-income disputants in Illinois. The project was supported by a planning grant from the IEJF.
- The IEJF also supports RSI’s work with CCR to create a monitoring and evaluation system for CCR’s mediation services.
- RSI receives grant from the James B. Boskey Memorial Foundation in support of a Program Associate to help maintain, develop and market our expanded Court ADR Resource Center.
2008
- Resolution Systems Institute is announced as the new name for Center for Analysis of Alternative Dispute Resolution Systems.
- RSI launches a new organizational website, AboutRSI.org, providing information on RSI’s mission, leadership, activities, publications, etc.
- RSI launches CourtADR.org, our new home for the Court ADR Resource Center. The new site contains an updated and expanded version of the resource center, resources designed for particular professions, such as judge, mediator or lawyer; search for resources; and read special RSI-created guidance on program development and evaluation.
- RSI completes a study of the use of mediation for large civil cases in the 17th Circuit of Illinois.
- Court ADR Connection, RSI’s monthly e-newsletter featuring court ADR news and events from around the US, launches with funding from the JAMS Foundation and the James B. Boskey Memorial Fund.
- RSI’s SMAP assists the 11th Circuit of Illinois to launch its new Small Claims Mediation Program, providing program development expertise, mediator training, and a monitoring and evaluation system.
- RSI receives a grant from the IEJF to support SMAP’s second year.
- RSI completes a project assisting the Center for Conflict Resolution with a new monitoring and evaluation system.
2009
- RSI celebrates 10 years of Judge Harris H. Agnew serving as Chair of the RSI Executive Committee.
- RSI receives a grant from the James B. Boskey Memorial Foundation to develop a blog focused on court ADR as part of a broader social media campaign.
- RSI establishes organizational pages on LinkedIn and Facebook as part of our social media campaign.
- RSI forms a national committee of ADR researchers, evaluators and administrators to develop model forms for civil case mediation, which any court will be able to adapt for their own use. The ABA Section of Dispute Resolution, which had begun a similar effort, partners with RSI on the project.