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What Exactly is a Supreme Court Certified Mediator?

As the name implies, this is a person who acts in the official capacity as a mediator between two parties. The certification they receive to practice this type of law was set up by the State Supreme Court.

There are multiple areas of practice for the state certified mediator. Each specialty requires its own specific number of credit hours, represented by a point system. Maria A. Riddle, owner and attorney at Huddleston, Robbins & Riddle, PA, is trained as a Supreme Court Certified Family Mediator. Below you can see the points required as a Family Law Supreme Court Mediator:

Family Minimum Points:

•  30 certified family mediation training; and
•  25 educational / mediation experience; and
•  30 mentorship; and
•  15 additional points via mentorship, higher education, mediation experience, or options under miscellaneous points.
•  = 100 points

As you can see, to be a Supreme Court certified mediator has to go through rigorous training and a mentorship program. This is because there is a lot on the line when helping settle legal issues between two intimate parties. It is a very precarious situation and should be handled with the utmost care and respect.

How Do I Know if an Attorney is Supreme Court Certified?

To put it simply, this is not something they would hide away in the text of their website or Google listing. The fact that they went through the rigors of getting certified and that they are qualified to handle important matters such as these is a selling point unto itself. 

These are a relatively rare bunch as you can see by the official state report below:

As of January 2021, there were 5,513 individuals certified as mediators. The breakdown by certification is as follows:

• 1,927 certified county mediators
• 2,199 certified family mediators
• 3,144 certified circuit mediators
• 211 certified dependency mediators
• 431 certified appellate mediators

Conclusion

If you are looking to hire a professional mediator then it is worth your time and money to hire one that is Florida State Supreme Court Certified. You can feel better about the mediation process knowing you are getting a true professional, someone who does this type of work full time for a living and is certified to do it.

In the Melbourne, Florida and Brevard County, Florida area please check out our website if you need help with mediation and feel free to contact us at 321-914-4710