Massachusetts State House.
Boston Bar Journal

Overview of Alternate Dispute Resolution Programs in the Massachusetts Trial Court

May 22, 2025
| Spring 2025 Vol. 69 #2

By Barbara J. Macy

Introduction

A familiar principle of dispute resolution is that “the forum should fit the fuss” (Sander and Goldberg 1994). Massachusetts Trial Court departments employ a variety of innovative alternative dispute resolution (“ADR”) programs tailored to the cases in each forum. This article presents a brief overview of court-connected programs available in the Land, Probate and Family, Superior, Juvenile, Housing, Boston Municipal, and District, Court departments.

Land Court 

In the Land Court, ADR is raised as an option at the initial case management conference. The Court maintains a list of approved external ADR providers that offer free mediation screening as a condition of receiving referrals. After the initial screening, these private providers usually charge for their services. To handle cases with self-represented litigants (“SRLs”) and those of limited means, the Land Court also offers, at no charge, an in-house mediation program, staffed by its Mediation Attorney, Barbara J. Macy. The in-house program handles all types of Land Court cases, particularly disputes involving boundaries, easements, partition actions, zoning appeals, and tax lien foreclosures. Due to the in-house program’s limited resources, referral priority is given to cases where one or more parties cannot afford court costs or mediation services, are self-represented, or have previously attempted mediation unsuccessfully. Referrals must be made by the Judge or Recorder overseeing the proceeding. The in-house mediation process, available throughout a case lifecycle, is flexible to address the needs of the parties to each case. Typically, the mediator initially speaks to counsel or SRLs separately before meeting together to ensure an effective formal mediation session. Meetings with the mediator are generally conducted on Zoom or by telephone, though in-person sessions are available. The mediator may also take a view of the locus where appropriate. A view can focus parties on the actual terrain at issue and demonstrate the mediator’s attention to their interests. The Land Court’s mediation webpage is at Land Court Mediation | Mass.gov.

Probate and Family Court 

The Probate and Family Court refers cases for conciliation with conciliators who are volunteer attorneys, participating through their county bar associations or programs. To obtain conciliation services, attorneys or SRLs may request a referral, or a judge may suggest it. In 2020, Chief Justice John Casey started the Pathways Case Management Initiative, which has become one of the highest priorities of the Court. The goal is to resolve cases earlier. All the Court’s Judicial Case Managers and Assistant Judicial Case Managers (“AJCMs”) and many of its Registers, First Assistant Registers, and Assistant Registers have completed a 32-hour mediation training, funded through the Trial Court. There are three Pathways. When any Complaint for Modification (a complaint seeking to change a prior Judgment) is filed, cases are screened to determine which Pathway is most appropriate. Some divisions have added additional case types such as complaints for contempt and 1B contested divorces to the Pathways program.

For most cases, a Pathway 1: Case Management Conference is scheduled for the litigants and their attorneys (if they are not self-represented) to take place via Zoom with an AJCM. The AJCM attempts to help the litigants reach an agreement, and if counsel is not involved, will draft the agreement for the SRLs. The agreement is then typically entered administratively (without a hearing). If an agreement is not reached after Pathway 1, then the next step is Pathway 2: Guided Resolution, which involves an in-person meeting with a Probation Officer at the Court’s Probation Department. If an agreement is still not reached after Pathway 2, then the case is scheduled for a Pathway 3: Pre-trial Conference before a judge. The goal is to have case conferences scheduled within 30-45 days of the return of service being filed. The Pathways Initiative has been extremely successful in reaching resolutions. With all fourteen divisions of the Court operating Pathways, the Court schedules approximately 1,000 cases per month into Pathways. Of those cases, two-thirds result in either a judgment or temporary order. More information about the Pathways Initiative can be found at Pathways Case Management Initiative in the Probate and Family Court | Mass.gov.

For information regarding other ADR options in the Probate and Family Court, go to Probate and Family Court approved Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) programs | Mass.gov.

Superior Court

The Superior Court offers court-connected mediation services for all civil cases. Mediation is provided through the court’s ADR Officer James McCormack, Esq. and retired Judges John Cratsley (Suffolk County), John Lu (Suffolk County), and Karen Green (Middlesex and Bristol Counties). Mediation by any of the retired judges requires that at least one party lacks the resources for private, fee-based ADR services. Mediations by Attorney McCormack, however, are available regardless of the financial ability of the parties to afford private ADR services.

Court-connected mediation is voluntary but requires agreement of the parties and referral from the Court. To request a referral for mediation by Attorney McCormack, parties should file a joint motion with the session judge. If the motion is allowed, the parties may contact Mr. McCormack at james.mccormack@jud.state.ma.us to schedule the mediation. Before requesting a referral, the parties may contact Attorney McCormack to discuss his availability. To request a referral for mediation by a retired judge, parties must submit a Request for Referral to Mediation form to the session judge. The form is available on the Superior Court’s webpage (under Superior Court Forms) or from the session clerk. If the session judge refers the matter for mediation by a retired judge, Administrative Assistant Sophia Parker (sophia.parker@jud.state.ma.us) will coordinate the scheduling of the mediation. Generally, mediations are available by Zoom or in person.

Occasionally, sitting Superior Court Judges assist in resolving disputes through a Judicial Settlement Conference. Interested litigants may request this from the Judge assigned to their case. Although judges have wide discretion, typically, a Superior Court Judge will meet with the parties for two to four hours to assist the parties in reaching a settlement. Any judge who presides over a settlement conference will no longer participate in the case in a judicial role.

Juvenile Court

In the Juvenile Court, mediation is available for cases involving care and custody of children through a contract with an outside provider, Plummer Youth Promise. Two Permanency Mediation approaches are used; Family Consultation Team and Cooperative Permanency Planning. The Family Consultation Team approach unites parents, children, extended family, social workers, attorneys, and service providers in a non-adversarial process facilitated by a mediator. Permanency can be achieved through reunification, adoption, or guardianship. In the Cooperative Permanency Planning approach, when there may not be an option for reunification, parents can still be a part of planning for their child’s future. Currently, Plummer Youth Promise mediation is available in all counties, except Plymouth, Bristol, and Barnstable. The Juvenile Court also has mediation options available for cases involving requests for Harassment Prevention Orders, which often involve youth with school-based or social media-based conflicts. Mediation in these case types, through several approved community providers, has been widely successful, allowing the youth to avoid the creation of a record. Interested litigants may make a request to the Judge assigned to their case.

Housing Court

In the Housing Court, mediation by Housing Specialists, as authorized by G.L. c. 185C, §16, is available for every case. Each division has a Housing Specialist Department with a Chief and a Deputy Chief Housing Specialist under the purview of the First Justice of the Division (rather than the Clerk Magistrate). Every new case for summary process eviction is scheduled for a Tier 1 mediation event with a Housing Court Specialist, Interim Housing Court Standing Order 1-23: Continuation of temporary modifications to court operations | Mass.gov. An updated Standing Order regarding the procedure is anticipated, so counsel should check Massachusetts Housing Court Standing Orders | Mass.gov to make sure they are aware of any new operative procedures. Mediation in the Housing Court has been very successful, resolving a large percentage of cases. In 2024, over 26,000 summary process cases were filed in the Housing Court Department for non-payment of rent alone, not including cases brought for cause claiming alleged lease violations. Of these non-payment of rent cases, 96% of the defendants were SRLs (https://public.tableau.com/app/profile/drap4687/vizzes#!/) With such a large number of SRLs, among which a number are limited English-speaking, mediators provide an invaluable service that can more directly assist and accommodate parties to achieve a mutual resolution.

Boston Municipal Court and the District Court 

Free ADR is available in the Boston Municipal Court and most District Court divisions, primarily through court-approved outside providers for civil cases, including small claims, contract and tort actions, supplementary process, and eviction cases. For the District Court, mediation is offered in 56 of the 62 divisions and conciliation is also offered in 28 divisions. Some District Court divisions also provide Judicial Settlement Conferences, in which a sitting judge assists in resolving a dispute. The clerk’s office of each Boston Municipal Court division and each District Court division that offers ADR, has an ADR Coordinator who can be contacted for information on accessing ADR services. A list of mediation service providers for each division may be found at Approved Alternative Dispute Resolution Programs | Mass.gov.

More Resources 

The Trial Court’s ADR website, Alternative Dispute Resolution | Mass.gov provides a wealth of information. All programs are subject to Supreme Judicial Court Rule 1:18.

Future Projects

As of this writing, the Trial Court is developing pilot projects for free court-connected online dispute resolution (“ODR”) mediation. The pilots will be for small claims sessions in one Boston Municipal Court division and two District Court divisions. Also, Suffolk Law School is planning to launch an ODR clinic for “low-dispute divorces” to be coordinated with the Probate and Family Court. These projects, along with ever-evolving ongoing ADR programs, demonstrate that the variety of ADR opportunities in the Trial Court continues to grow, alongside the needs of court users and development in ADR practices.


Barbara J. Macy is Mediation Attorney for the Massachusetts Land Court. The author gratefully acknowledges significant contributions to this article from Honorable Diane Rubin, Honorable Jessica Dubin, Honorable Alexander Mitchell-Munevar, Honorable Debra Squires-Lee, and Attorneys Martha Gill, Stanley Cherney, Beth Cook, Bethany Stevens, and Christina Miller.