Category: Massachusetts

Mediation News in Massachusetts.

Foreclosure Mediation in Massachusetts?

Foreclosure Mediation in Massachusetts Author: Stephen Alexander – Massachusetts lawmakers are deciding whether or not to force lenders into a government controlled foreclosure mediation before permitting foreclosures on homeowners.

The foreclosure rates in Massachusetts are rising rapidly as banks seek to reclaim houses. The State Senate in Massachusetts passed a bill that would require lenders to enter a mediation process that could include loan restructuring before foreclosures would be allowed.

In May, the State House passed a different bill on the foreclosure problem in Massachusetts. The State Senate bill is now headed to the State House for a vote.

In a different bill, the  Joint Committee on Municipalities and Regional Government is attempting to require foreclosure mediation in the Boston area.

According to the Boston Globe, the foreclosure rate is up 32% since last year in Massachusetts. More importantly, foreclosure petitions are up 77% since last year. The Attorney General in Massachusetts, Martha Coakley, recently declared a foreclosure crisis.

Mediation Team Triangles in Bermuda

Mediators Arrive in Bermuda Author: Stephen Alexander – A mediation team from SteetSafe Boston arrived in Bermuda today, according to Minister of National Security Wayne Perinchief. The program is run independent of the Bermuda Police Service.

The mediation team from Boston is in Bermuda to train local mediators. The independence of the mediators from local police is fundamental to the program’s success.

The Commissioner of Police believes that Bermuda cannot arrest their way to a solution with local gangs. The Minister agreed when he refused to go forward with legislation that required additional jail time for gang members.

Over the weekend, a 31-year old man was murdered by gunfire at a barber shop in a tourist area. The Minister has embraced gang mediation because he wants “a path out of the gang lifestyle.” He does not want to “consign a generation of this country’s citizens to the criminal justice system and its natural conclusion of incarceration.”

Mediators – Practicing Law in Mass?

Coat of Arms of Masacchusetts with State in the Background

Author: Stephen Alexander – The question as to whether mediators are practicing law in Massachusetts is answered. The short answer to that question for those mediators is that mediation is not the practice of law in Massachusetts.

In Massachusetts, the Supreme Judicial Court ruled on whether a lawyer disqualified from practicing law may work as a mediator in Massachusetts. The Supreme Judicial Court said unanimously that “a person does not engage in the practice of law when acting as a mediator . . . “

The Court said that four issues are raised when a lawyer performs mediation work. The first issue is whether the mediation work is performed by lawyers as part of their legal practice. The second issue is whether the mediation work was performed by the lawyer prior to suspension, disbarment, or resignation for misconduct. The third issue is whether after suspension, disbarment, or resignation for misconduct, the lawyer has or tries to perform the mediation work in the same office or community or for other lawyers. Finally the last is whether the mediation work as performed by the lawyer invokes the lawyer’s professional judgment of legal principles.

So that’s it for the short answer. Finally, if any mediators want the long answer, then they can read the full sixteen pages of summary given by Lawyer’s Weekly.