Free Dispute-Resolution Service Sets Up Shop in Picus’ Valley Office

In an effort to cut down the lawsuit workload on judges, the San Fernando Valley’s first free legal-mediation service has been set up to help feuding residents resolve disputes without going to court or taking more drastic measures, the Los Angeles city attorney’s office announced Thursday.

A branch office for the city attorney’s Dispute Resolution Program, first established at City Hall in 1989, opened in Councilwoman Joy Picus’ office Jan. 1, said Joy Nuell, a spokeswoman for Picus.

Trained volunteers are available to mediate any argument--as long as it does not involve a crime--five days a week.

“The program encourages people to mediate disputes among themselves,” said Ruth Kwan, head of the city attorney’s consumer protection unit. “Hopefully, the program can help reduce civil filings in courts that are clogged.”

The city attorney’s office has prepared pamphlets on the program for distribution at police stations and nonprofit agencies.

Kwan said the program has been useful to people with gripes about neighbors who park motor homes in front of their houses, landlords who refuse to return cleaning deposits, and people who have other business and residential problems. Volunteers said they have handled about 100 cases in the Valley thus far.

“A lot of people don’t know where to go with their problems, and the first person they think of to call is their council member,” Kwan said. “But most of the council members’ staffs aren’t equipped to answer their questions.”

Picus stepped into the picture when she donated part of her office to the program, and three or four volunteers use the office daily for mediation services, Nuell said. City Atty. James K. Hahn hopes to set up offices in all 15 council districts.

Kwan said the service, which cost $137,000 last year, is funded by civil court filing fees. More than 300 program volunteers, most of them retirees or young college graduates, have been trained by the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service since 1989.

Many of the cases are resolved over the telephone, although volunteers often make office appointments for people with difficult conflicts or in cases involving several parties, she said. Mediators occasionally go out to sites if necessary, such as when 10 volunteers proctored an officer election at a Los Angeles housing project.

The dispute resolution office is located at Picus’ office at 19040 Vanowen St. in Reseda. Anyone who would like to use the service may call (818) 908-2601. Volunteers speak several languages, including Spanish, Tagalog, Chinese and French. A machine accommodating telephone needs of the deaf is also available at (213) 485-8334.