NCRC is the first center in Nashville to provide low-or-no cost mediation and conflict resolution services and training to such a broad audience, from the courts to community groups to businesses to individual residents. Conflicts are a routine part of our existence; they occur whenever two parties have, or think they have, incompatible goals. Often, people avoid conflict for fear that they do not know how to resolve it. Mediation is a private and voluntary process that allows individuals to resolve their own problems with the help of a trained, impartial third person - a mediator. The mediator helps parties communicate, identify important issues, needs and interests, express grievances, and develop mutually acceptable solutions. Conflict resolution education and mediation give people the skills to work with conflict in a way that does not lead to violence. Each year in the state of TN, thousands of cases get heard by the courts, resulting in a burdensome strain on court resources. Many of these cases can be solved through mediation - outside of the judicial process. NCRC provides mediation in General Sessions Court for landlord-tenant, consumer-merchant, neighbor-neighbor, and personal property disputes. Through the District Attorney's Criminal Warrant Screening office, NCRC also mediates criminal cases that are in the pre-warrant stage. In the community, NCRC works to resolve discrimination, domestic relations, property, and inter-organizational disputes.

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Types of Conflicts Suitable for Mediation

Accident
Business-Business
Community
Consumer-Merchant
Construction
Contracts
Debt Collection
Employment
Environmental
Family
Landlord-Tenant
Neighbor-Neighbor
Personal Injury
Property
Subrogation
Victim-Offender

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Benefits of Mediation

Effective
Studies show that more than 80% of all mediations end in agreement. Studies also show that more defendants abide by agreements that they helped to create than agreements that are imposed upon them.

Private & Confidential
Unlike court, mediation happens behind closed doors and therefore is more private. To encourage the free exchange of information, all mediation sessions are kept confidential in any subsequent civil trial. This means that no one can reveal in court what is said or done in mediation, and the mediator cannot be compelled to testify in court.

Voluntary
Your participation in mediation is voluntary. Any participant or the mediator may stop the mediation session at any time for any reason. If you choose not to settle in mediation, you do not lose your option to go to court.

You stay in control
You always will know more about your conflict and what works best for you than anyone else. During mediation, the mediator helps you to work together with the other participants to find a creative, fair resolution. You get to decide what is fair and best for you instead of a judge deciding for you. You have flexibility that the judge does not have.

Legally binding Settlement Agreement
Every mediated settlement agreement is recorded in a written, detailed, and signed document. The agreement may be written as a private contract or an agreed judgment of the court, if applicable. Both types of agreements may be used as evidence in court to prove the existence of the agreement or to enforce its terms.

Protect your credit
When a court orders a judgment against you, credit-reporting agencies automatically add that judgment to your credit report. The judgment may remain on your credit report up to seven years and cause you difficulty when renting an apartment, buying a car or house, or doing anything that requires good credit. An agreed judgment may be less damaging to your credit than a judgment ordered against you by the court, and a private contract does not show up on your credit report at all.

Learn and use mediation skills to help disputants resolve their conflicts themselves. NCRC mediators work with Nashville's courts, businesses, non-profit organizations and residents to achieve resolution in a variety of civil, family, and victim-offender conflicts. NCRC also offers bilingual mediation for Spanish - speakers. Rule 31 mediators are encouraged to inquire.

Volunteer Mediator Positions
NCRC-Certified & Apprentice Mediators volunteer their time to mediate in NCRC’s General Sessions Court program and occasionally receive referrals for sliding-scale mediations (civil and family). NCRC’s Basic Conflict Resolution & Mediation Training typically is required to volunteer (fee waiver is available with executed service contract). All Volunteer Mediators must complete program-specific training as well. To apply for the NCRC Volunteer Mediator position, candidates must complete the Mediator Information Form and Mediator Classification Instrument (2 pages), if applicable, and follow submission requirements on the last page of the Mediator Information Form. Upon receipt of the materials, NCRC staff will contact you to discuss your application. NCRC Volunteer Mediators generally make a service commitment of twelve months after an apprenticeship and certification.

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NCRC, a Tennessee nonprofit corporation, began as an outreach effort of the Nashville Bar Association. In the past, NCRC has relied on the generous support of private individuals, corporations, and grant foundations, including The Frist Foundation, The Memorial Foundation, Community Foundation of Middle Tennessee and the National Association for Community Mediation.