ACR's Initiatives

ACR's Legislative and Public Policy Leadership:

• Uniform Mediation Act (UMA)— ACR, through its Official Observers, was involved in the drafting process of this uniform law, and ACR has conditionally approved the UMA with specific conditions related to confidentiality, impartiality and child protection mediation privilege. 

• Unauthorized Practice of Law (UPL)— ACR's Task Force on the Unauthorized Practice of Law, made up of ADR professionals from a variety of backgrounds, has produced a draft report examining the UPL issue in relation to the practice of mediation.

• ACR Response to the FMCS Proposed Access to Neutrals Initiative— ACR's formal comment drafted by members of the ACR Workplace Section's Public Policy Committee and ACR's Legislative/Public Policy Committee, and approved by ACR's Board of Directors on the proposed roster.

• Support for the effort to create the United States Consensus Council— the National Consensus Initiative to establish a United States Consensus Council (USCC), an independent, nonprofit entity that would serve the United States in resolving contentious national issues.

ACR's Leadership in Quality Assurance Issues:

• Joint Committee on Model Standards of Conduct for Mediators (JCMSCM)— Convened by ACR, the AAA and the ABA Section of Dispute Resolution to review, revise and update the standards of conduct established by the three organizations in 1994.

• Ethics Initiative—The Ethics Committee serves in a disciplinary capacity—reviewing and addressing ethics complaints brought against ACR members—with a primary function to educate members and the public about the values held by ADR practitioners and by ACR.
  

• Advanced Practitioner Workgroup— developing the basic framework for all practice areas to develop this advanced membership status, with the anticipation that individual ACR Sections will refine the requirements in ways that make the most sense for their practice area.

• Mediator Certification Task Force— created recognizing that there is a need for entry-level certification that documents and acknowledges that a mediator has completed a minimum level of training and experience.