Northern District of Mississippi

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IN BRIEF

Process summary

ADR generally. The CJRA plan in the Northern District of Mississippi, effective January 1, 1994, encourages use of ADR in appropriate cases. The judges are authorized to inquire about ADR at the initial case management conference, and counsel must be prepared to advise the court of their positions on ADR. Magistrate judges generally conduct the initial case management conference and usually make a finding on the record of whether ADR is appropriate. The clerk of court maintains a list of private ADR providers for cases referred to mediation and arbitration. If an ENE or settlement conference is considered appropriate, the court conducts the conference in the ordinary course of the case management conference or pretrial conference. Summary jury and bench trials, minitrials, and settlement weeks are also authorized by the plan.

Judicial settlement conferences. The magistrate judges routinely discuss settlement at the final pretrial conference and may initiate settlement discussions at earlier stages in the case if appropriate.

For dimore information

Norman L. Gillespie, U.S. Magistrate Judge and Clerk of Court, 601-234-1971

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Excerpted from ADR and Settlement in the Federal District Courts: A Sourcebook for Judges & Lawyers, 1996, a publication of the Federal Judicial Center and CPR Institute for Dispute Resolution