ADR Resources

Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) refers to a broad range of approaches and techniques that are used to resolve disputes with the help of a neutral party. Below you will find information about ADR resources in Minnesota and nationally. Note that the resources provided here are just a sampling of the many ADR programs and organizations that exist.

Minnesota Dispute Resolution Programs
- Community Mediation Minnesota: Community Mediation Minnesota is a network of certified nonprofit service providers with skilled mediators ready to help Minnesotans caught in conflict.
- Family Court Early Neutral Evaluation: Early Neutral Evaluation (ENE) is a confidential, voluntary, evaluative process designed to facilitate prompt dispute resolution in custody, parenting time (visitation), and financial matters.
- Family Law Mediation Program, Court of Appeals: The Minnesota Court of Appeals will refer all family court appeals for mandatory mediation (with some exceptions for cases involving, for example, domestic violence). The program was designed to decrease costs and conflict for families involved in appellate cases while increasing litigant satisfaction.
- Hennepin County Conciliation Court Mediation Program: The purpose of the mediation program in Hennepin County Conciliation Court (sometimes called small claims court) is to have a mediator help the parties voluntarily work towards a possible agreement rather than have a judge make the decision.
- Human Rights Division of St. Paul Pre-Determination Settlement Agreement (PDSA) Process: The Human Rights Division of the Department of Human Rights and Equal Economic Opportunity is responsible for investigating complaints of discrimination that have taken place within the City of Saint Paul. The Human Rights Division is a neutral, fact-finding agency and does not represent either party in its investigations.
- Minneapolis Department of Civil Rights (MDCR) Mediation Services: Minneapolis Department of Civil Rights investigates charges of discrimination against members of protected classes as well as civilian complaints of police misconduct. The Minneapolis office also ensures employment and purchasing goals for women and minorities on all City-funded construction.
- Minnesota Attorney General's Office: The Office enforces state consumer protection and antitrust laws, regulates charitable institutions, and advocates for people and small businesses in utilities matters.
- Minnesota Bar Association ADR Section: To advance and promote the field of conflict management and dispute resolution, and to improve the practice, elevate the standards, and educate practitioners, the bench and the public regarding Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) in Minnesota. The ADR Section has a strong commitment to diversity and inclusion.
- Minnesota Bureau of Mediation Services (BMS): The Bureau of Mediation Services (BMS) oversees the collective bargaining relationship between all public sector employers, charitable hospitals, some private sector employers and their unionized employees.
- Minnesota Department of Human Rights (MDHR) Mediation Program: The Minnesota Department of Human Rights (MDHR) investigates charges of discrimination. In addition, the Department also ensures that businesses seeking state contracts are in compliance with equal opportunity requirements.
- Minnesota Farmer-Lender Mediation Program: A farmer in debt has the opportunity to renegotiate, restructure, or resolve farm debt through Mandatory Farmer-Lender Mediation.
- Minnesota Special Education Mediation Services (MNSEMS): The Minnesota Department of Education (MDE) provides special education mediation services at no cost to the district or parent.
Minnesota Dispute Resolution Statutes and Rules
- Minnesota Statutes §494.01: Relates to Community Dispute Resolution Programs.
- Minnesota Court General Rules of Practice Rule 114: Relates to all civil cases being subject to Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) processes which are outlined here.
Qualified Neutrals
Finding a Neutral
- Minnesota Statewide ADR-Rule 114 Neutrals Roster: The State Court Administrator for Minnesota has a roster of ‘qualified neutrals’ / mediators. The list is searchable by ‘civil’ or ‘family’ and by Minnesota county.
- JAMS Neutral Directory: Search this national directory using "Minnesota" as a location to find dispute resolution practitioners either based in or willing to travel to Minnesota for dispute resolution engagements.
Becoming a Neutral
- Minnesota Courts Alternative Dispute Resolution: The State of Minnesota does not ‘license’ mediators. However, the State Court Administrator does have a process for a mediator or a mediation organization to become ‘qualified and included on their roster as provided in Rule 114.12.
Minnesota Restorative Practices/Restorative Justice Resources
- Center for Restorative Justice and Peacemaking | UMN Duluth: The of mission of the Center for restorative Justice and Peacemaking is to provide support and resources to many different stakeholders within the fast-growing movement of restorative justice: international peacemakers, program managers, facilitators of restorative dialogue, trainers, and researchers, so they can maintain and strengthen restorative dialogue on all levels.
- Restorative Justice / Department of Corrections (mn.gov): The Department of Corrections describes the differences between court-based justice and restorative justice. This page also includes a link to victim-initiated restorative justice support.
- Restorative Justice - Minnesota Peacebuilding Leadership Institute (mnpeace.org): Minnesota Peacebuilding Leadership Institute instigates, trains, and supports racially, sexually, culturally, ethnically, religiously, and economically diverse individuals and organizations to become trauma-informed, resilience-oriented, and restorative justice-focused empowering communities in Minnesota, the USA, and around the world. Minnesota Peacebuilding Leadership Institute offers trainings including Intro to Restorative Justice and Strategies for Trauma Awareness and Resilience (STAR) and STAR-Lite.
- Restorative Practices | Community Mediation Minnesota: Restorative practices focus on repairing harm, restoring relationships, and renewing a shared sense of community in a safe and supportive space. Minnesota’s community dispute resolution centers offer restorative practices circles, dialogues and other services. This page describes the steps in a restorative practices process.
- Some Minnesota Counties have restorative justice programs. Here are three examples of county-level programs, but there are additional programs around the state. Reach out to your county for more information about restorative justice resources.
National Organizations and Resources
- American Bar Association Section of Dispute Resolution: The ABA Section of Dispute Resolution provides members with accessible, relevant and cutting-edge information, practice tips, and skill-building opportunities. They are a vibrant forum for networking, professional development, and research that bridges together unique and diverse perspectives.
- Association for Conflict Resolution: The Association for Conflict Resolution (ACR) is a national professional organization enhancing the practice and public understanding of conflict resolution. We are an international professional association for mediators, arbitrators, educators and other conflict resolution practitioners.
- Coalition of Agriculture Mediation Programs (CAMP): The Coalition of Agricultural Mediation Programs (CAMP) is a network of these 42 state programs, which work together to sustain and support the work of mediating in agricultural and rural disputes.
- Community Mediation Maryland: Community Mediation Maryland's (CMM) vision is for every Maryland resident to have awareness of and access to affordable, high-quality community mediation services. CMM advances collaborative conflict resolution in Maryland through educating the public, providing training and quality assurance, conducting research, and creatively applying mediation to social challenges.
- Conflict Prevention and Resolution Center (CPRC): CPRC supports the Environmental Protection Agency’s regulatory, enforcement, and voluntary programs by providing Environmental Collaboration and Conflict Resolution (ECCR) services to the entire agency.
- Federal Labor Relations Authority (FLRA): The FLRA is an independent administrative federal agency that administers the labor-management relations program for 2.1 million non-postal federal employees worldwide.
- Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service (FMCS): The Agency helps build better relationships through joint problem-solving and constructive responses to inevitable conflict. In turn, this improves the ability of organizations to create value for customers, shareholders and employees alike, and substantially benefits the national economy. The Agency concentrates its efforts on assisting employers and employees in coping with the demands of a rapidly changing workplace.
- Harvard Program on Negotiation: The mission of the Harvard Negotiation Project (HNP) is to improve the theory and practice of conflict resolution and negotiation by working on real world conflict intervention, theory building, education and training, and writing and disseminating new ideas.
- Interagency Alternative Dispute Resolution Working Group: In 1996 Congress passed the Administrative Dispute Resolution Act (ADRA) which requires federal agencies to promote and use alternative dispute resolution methods to resolve disputes. The Interagency ADR Working Group was established in 1998 as a resource for developing ADR programs and sharing information to support the use of ADR.
- Mediate.com: Mediate.com is a leading mediation website and provider of online services for mediation professionals and programs.
- Mediators Beyond Borders International's Conflict Literacy Framework: This multiple module framework for managing conflict links to a number of guides and resources for many kinds of conflicts and using multiple approaches.
- National Association for Community Mediation: NAFCM advances the work, aggregates the wisdom, and amplifies the voice of community mediators and community mediation moving us all closer to transformative conflict revolution.
- National Center for Environmental Conflict Resolution: The National Center guides groups through collaborative processes to achieve science-based decision-making, collaborative policy, and other lasting outcomes. They also provide training to develop skills and build workforce capacity in collaboration, communication, problem solving, and conflict resolution.
- U. S. Military resources: