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ASSOCIATION OF ATTORNEY-MEDIATORS
GRIEVANCE PROCEDURE

The Association of Attorney-Mediators ("AAM") adopts this Grievance Procedure to allow users of the mediation process to file with AAM a complaint regarding any AAM member alleging that the AAM member has violated AAM's Ethical Guidelines. Any such complaint must be filed within ninety days of the alleged violation.

AAM shall publish this Grievance Procedure on its website and, upon written request, shall send a copy of it to any person who represents that he or she has acquired mediation services from an AAM member.

The components of the Grievance Procedure are as follows:

Grievance Board

AAM shall have a Grievance Board that will consist of three (3) members appointed by the President of AAM with the approval of the National Board of Directors. The President may create more than one Grievance Board. Grievance Boards are AAM Committees to which membership suspension and expulsion powers are herewith delegated by the Board of Directors under Article 4.5 of the AAM bylaws.

Procedure

  1. A grievance against a Mediator must be initiated within ninety days of any event forming the basis of the grievance, and is initiated when a written complaint (the "Complaint") describing any alleged violation of AAM's Ethical Guidelines signed by the Complainant is received by both AAM and the Mediator. The Complaint shall state the specific Ethical Guideline(s) alleged to have been violated; in the absence of such statement the Complaint shall be summarily dismissed. The Complaint shall be sent certified mail, return receipt requested (a) to AAM at P. O. Box 741955, Dallas, Texas 75374-1955; and (b) to the Mediator at his or her current office address. If the Complainant does not know the Mediator's address, the Complainant may request the address from AAM and AAM will furnish the address to the Complainant within seven working days of receipt of the request. AAM will publish any change of its address or fax number on its website. Any Complaint shall state an address at which the Complainant chooses to receive correspondence concerning the Complaint, and must state in the first paragraph of the Complaint that the Complainant waives his or her right to confidentiality for the purpose of the Complaint, in words with the same meaning as the following sentence: "This is a Complaint under the AAM Grievance Procedure. I acknowledge that by filing this Complaint I am waiving confidentiality for purposes of the AAM Grievance Procedure."

  2. All correspondence concerning a Complaint may be sent by regular, first class mail, unless otherwise expressly stated in this Grievance Procedure.

  3. A Complainant may be represented by counsel in any or all phases of the Grievance Procedure.

  4. AAM's office shall send the Complaint to the Grievance Board nearest to the Mediator within fifteen days of receipt of the Complaint. The Mediator shall have thirty days after receipt of the Complaint to respond to the Complaint, and the written response shall be sent by certified mail, return receipt requested, to AAM's office, and AAM's office shall send the Mediator's response to the Complainant within seven days of receipt of the response. The Complainant may reply to the Mediator's response within seven days of Complainant's receipt of the response by sending the reply to AAM's office. The Mediator shall have the opportunity to respond within seven days of the Mediator's receipt of Complaint's reply and shall send any response as set forth in the preceding sentence.

  5. After receipt of the last reply of the Mediator, the Complainant shall advise AAM's office in writing within seven days of the Complainant's receipt of the reply if the Complainant wishes to pursue the matter further. If the Mediator has not replied, the Complainant shall also advise AAM's office in writing within seven days after the time for the Mediator's response has lapsed if the Complainant desires to pursue the matter further. AAM's office shall send the Complainant's notice that Complainant wishes to proceed further to the Grievance Board within seven days of receipt of the notice. The Grievance Board shall then send by certified mail, return receipt requested, a request for a waiver of confidentiality, limited to the grievance process, to all participants in the mediation in question other than the Mediator and the Complainant within seven days of receipt of the notice from AAM's office. If all participants have not returned signed waivers within fourteen days of the date the request(s) were sent by the Grievance Board to the participants, the Grievance Board shall notify the Complainant that no further action can be taken on the grievance because confidentiality was not waived by all parties to the mediation.

  6. If all waivers of confidentiality are received by the Grievance Board, the Grievance Board shall then determine what further action to take. If the Grievance Board determines that it is appropriate for it to take further action, it may schedule a hearing to adjudicate the Complaint, or take other action. At the option of the Grievance Board, such hearing may be in the form of a mediation, or other procedure, to address the Complainant's grievance. The Grievance Board shall notify the Complainant and the Mediator of any hearing in writing by certified mail, return receipt requested, of the time, date and place of any such hearing or other action, and such notice will be issued by the Grievance Board within sixty days of the Grievance Board's receipt of the waivers of confidentiality.

  7. If the Grievance Board schedules a hearing to adjudicate the Complaint, the Complainant shall have the burden of proving that the Mediator has violated AAM's Ethical Guidelines. Either party may present evidence or other witnesses at a hearing to adjudicate the Complaint. As soon as practicable after a hearing to adjudicate the Complaint, the Grievance Board shall notify the Complainant and the Mediator of its findings. If the Grievance Board finds that a Mediator has violated AAM's Ethical Guidelines, the Grievance Board may impose sanctions on the Mediator in its discretion, as follows:

    8. (a) Private reprimand;

    (b) Public reprimand (published in the AAM newsletter);

    (c) Probation (which may be conditioned upon completion of pro bono mediation work or continuing mediation training);

    (d) Suspension of membership; and/or

    (e) Permanent expulsion.

    AAM shall not have subpoena power or any power to require attendance of persons at any hearing.

  8. Any action by the Grievance Board, as a result of a hearing or otherwise, must be unanimous or no action may be taken. The Grievance Board's decisions shall be final. All grievances shall remain confidential unless otherwise stated herein.

  9. The Complainant or the Mediator may agree in writing to extend any one or more time periods set forth in this Grievance Procedure and, if they so agree, they shall promptly submit their signed and written agreement to AAM's office. Either the Complainant or the Mediator may submit to the Grievance Board (with copies to the other party) a written request to extend any period of time set forth in this Procedure, and upon receipt of the written request the Grievance Board may grant, deny or otherwise act upon the request and shall promptly notify the parties in writing of the Board's action.

    10.
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accesses since 21 February 2001