News

Volunteers Needed for Dauphin County Pro Bono Eviction Mediation Project

  • 10/2/2020
  • Dauphin County Bar Association

Dauphin County Bar Association logoUPDATE: October 13 and 20 slots are now full!  Please contact Sandy Ballard if you are interested in volunteering at future Remote Eviction Mediation Project.

The Dauphin County Bar Association and MidPenn Legal Services have been selected as one of five state-wide recipients of Community Based Mediation Grants and Technical Assistance from the Pennsylvania Housing Alliance for its Pro Bono Eviction Mediation Pilot Project. Under the project volunteers will serve as mediators in eviction actions pending in Magisterial District Court and help Landlords and Renters come to an agreement to avoid Eviction.

The Pro Bono Eviction Mediation Project is being developed in coordination and consultation with many area partners including Dauphin County President Judge Cherry, MDJ Judge Judy, Dauphin County, the Capital Area Rental Property Owners Association and many service providers.

Like all Pro Bono projects, talented and creative volunteer attorneys are needed to make this program a success. The program will launch with live mediation sessions on October 13 and October 20 in the office of The Honorable David H. Judy located at 50 Canal Street, Royalton, PA 17057.

Several very talented and creative mediators are needed to volunteer at the FIRST trial launch of the project at Judge Judy’s office on the mornings of October 13 and October 20. The sessions are tentatively scheduled for 9:00 AM-11:00 AM on those dates. If you MIGHT be interested in helping with mediations on either October 13 or October 20,  please Sandy Ballard at the Dauphin County Bar Association at sandy@dcba-pa.org or (717) 232-7536 extension 7, as soon as possible. 

Some mediation experience would be helpful for volunteers, but is not required. If an agreement is reached, the Pro Bono Mediator would have both parties sign a Settlement Agreement based on a form provided by the Dauphin County Pro Bono Program.

If these initial live sessions prove to be successful in reaching settlements, the program will expand to a larger scale Remote Mediation program, conducted over Zoom, with many volunteer opportunities for prospective mediators.

For additional information or to volunteer, contact Sandy Ballard at the Dauphin County Bar Association at sandy@dcba-pa.org or (717) 232-7536 extension 7.

Topics:
  • Landlord/Tenant-Evictions
  • Pro Bono