Category Archives: ODR Solutions

Online Dispute Resolution at Court Technology Conference 2017

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Salt Lake City, Utah

This morning at the National Center for State Courts’ Court Technology Conference 2017, the session “Online Dispute Resolution and the Courts” features

  • Robert Ciolek, Court Administrator, 14A District Court—Washtenaw County
  • Shannon Salter, Chair of the British Columbia Civil Resolution Tribunal
  • Melisse Stiglich, Utah Court Systems

This presentation, moderated by David Slayton, Administrative Director, Texas Office of Court Administration, is part of the “User-Friendly Courts” track at the conference.

Melisse Stiglich shared about Utah’s small claims dispute resolution project. Shannon Salter said that the British Columbia Civil Resolution Tribunal is seeing high demand for digital small claims and condominium dispute services and demand outside of normal business hours.

Matterhorn customer Robert Ciolek shared updates and lessons learned from Michigan 14A District Court‘s experience with using Matterhorn for online traffic ticket resolution.

Highlights from the 14A experience with Matterhorn include

  • Time to case closure dropped by 65 percent
  • Less than 1 percent of cases default, compared with 22% outside of ODR.
  • In-person hearings reduced by ~100 hearings/month across six dockets
  • Fewer defaults, and
  • Quicker collections

You can read more about 14A District Court’s experience in our online traffic and warrant resolution case study in D14A.

Ohio State Bar recognizes Franklin County for Judicial Innovation

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Alex Sanchez and Veronica Cravener accepted the Ohio State Bar Association’s 2017 Judicial Administration and Legal Reform Committee Innovative Court Practices Award on behalf of the Franklin County Municipal Court Online Dispute Resolution Program.

screenshot of the OSBA announcement recognizing the Franklin County Municipal Court for Judicial Innovation

OSBA recognizes the Franklin County Municipal Court for Judicial Innovation

COLUMBUS — (August 31, 2017) The Ohio State Bar Association (OSBA) today announced that the 2017 recipient of the Judicial Administration and Legal Reform Committee Innovative Court Practices Award is the Franklin County Municipal Court Online Dispute Resolution Program.

OSBA President Randall Comer presented this year’s award before a roomful of judges at the annual meeting of the Ohio Judicial Conference in Columbus. Alex Sanchez, who manages the program, and Veronica Cravener, the Small Claims and Dispute Resolution Supervisor accepted the award on behalf of the Court.

The Franklin County Municipal Court Online Dispute Resolution Program is powered by Matterhorn.

Read more on the OSBA website.

Franklin County Small Claims Online Resolution at NAJIS

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At the National Association of Justice Information Systems 2017 Conference? Today, Alex Sanchez will speak on Franklin County, Ohio’s success with Matterhorn.

Improving Community Safety & Satisfaction
Captain Carl Trowbridge, Franklin County, Ohio, Sheriff’s Office; Alex Sanchez Esq., Manager, Franklin County, Ohio, Municipal Court, Small Claims Division and Dispute Resolution Department

Justice agencies in Franklin County (Columbus), Ohio are transforming their community from the inside out. In this session, practitioners from the Sheriff’s Office and the Municipal Court will share how technology is helping to better-inform citizens of their decisions and be more responsive to citizen’s needs. You will learn how the Sheriff is using objective classification to guide housing and programming decisions, help inmates transition back into the community, and to reduce the cycling of people through their doors. At the Municipal Court, a new online dispute resolution system is providing citizens with a way to negotiate and resolve disputes – at no cost – while saving time and eliminating the need to appear in court. Join us to hear how each of these agencies is improving justice by putting technology to work for the citizens of Franklin County.

See the NAJIS Agenda (PDF).

Franklin County Small Claims Resolution with Matterhorn featured in Norwegian Judicial Magazine

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The magazine of the Norwegian Judiciary, Rett på Sak, wrote about Matterhorn’s successful small claims resolution in Franklin County, Ohio. Franklin County includes Ohio’s state capital Columbus and its surrounding area.

Benefits of Small Claims Resolution

According to Alex Sanchez, manager of the small claims and dispute resolution department at Franklin County Municipal Court,

“The direct results of the platform are more cases resolved prior to [main hearing]….
The biggest benefit to the parties is that they can resolve their case without setting aside time to come to court….
By providing one more avenue for case resolution, courts can dedicate time and resources to other projects and cases.”

How has Matterhorn been received? Alex Sanchez says,

“We received compliments from parties on the very first day the platform launched….Our court users have found our ODR negotiation platform easy to use and are appreciative of the time it saves.”

More about Franklin County’s Small Claims Resolution

The article’s authors, Colleen Anderson and Travis Peterson, are students in a joint program at the University of Toledo, Ohio, and the Folkeuniversitet i Trondheim (University of Trondheim).

The full issue of Rett på Sak can be found online on the Norges Domstoler (Judiciary of Norway) website. The magazine is available as a PDF and the article about us (in English!) is on pages 26-27.screenshot from Norges Domstoler magazine

We are thrilled by the continuing international and national interest in Matterhorn (including the recent presentation at the International ODR conference in Paris). We are particularly pleased that the users of the system find it valuable.