HISTORY OF MASSUMA

On September 8, 2006, the first meeting of more than 50 members of the ADR community in Massachusetts met at Suffolk University Law School to begin addressing the issue of adapting the UMA to the needs of Massachusetts mediators.  See the introductory letter for background on the genesis of this meeting and the meeting announcements and minutes page for notes from this and other meetings.

It was requested that the next meeting be one to familiarize the ADR community with the terms and provisions of the UMA and how this would impact the practice of mediation, if adopted intact.  Since the language of the UMA is legalistic and written in a rather inaccessible manner, this meeting will be dedicated to explanations of the UMA.  We have scheduled a meeting - see the sidebar and meeting information page for details.

Please see the links and articles page for explanations of the UMA terms and provisions.

Summary of 4-14-09 UMA conference call

The UMA Working Group agreed unanimously to disbanded as of 4-13-09.

The following are the steps to wind up the process:

1. The UMA Process Committee will email to the UMA Working Group email list and post on the UMA WG web site this summary of actions.

2.  The domain name will expire in August 2009 and the website will then be disabled and not be renewed.  The Process Committee seeks a volunteer to host the UMA web site information on an existing web site that the volunteer maintains.  In any event, the information on the existing UMA WG web site will be preserved—to that end, Diane Levin will consult with a MWI intern to determine how best to preserve the work of the former UMA WG, including the information posted on the WG web site, and will help to implement the plan they agree upon.  Lynda Robbins has also indicated that she has a copy of all materials on the website for use as needed. 

3.  Chuck Doran will continue to monitor legislative activity related to the UMA and will alert all members currently on the WG mailing list to any activity needing response.  He will also alert the UMA sponsors of the current status of the Working Group.

4.  Chuck Doran will check in with all UMA Working Group members and any other interested party in July/August of 2010 to determine the need and interest in convening a new group to re-examine the UMA.  Chuck will organize a meeting or conference call to be held in September of 2010 with the goal of making a decision to convene a new group at that time or remain a disbanded group.

5.  In addition to the email notice in Item 1 above, the Process Committee will notify the BBA and MBA about the completion of the UMA WG process.