The Middlesex Community College Law Center in Lowell has provided conflict resolution services since 1989. The center administers consumer protection, individual, community and trial court mediation and training, school-based violence prevention programs and international conflict resolution training and services. These programs are funded through a partnership between MCC and the Massachusetts Office of the Attorney General, Lowell Public Schools, Lowell District Court, the Greater Lowell Bar Association and the U.S. State Department.
Consumer Protection Program
The Consumer Protection Program works in cooperation with the Massachusetts Office of the Attorney General, investigating and mediating consumer issues. In over 10,000 cases since 1990 the MCC Law Center has provided savings to consumers of over 3 million dollars.
Middlesex Mediation & Conciliation Program
Middlesex Mediation & Conciliation (MMC) is approved by the Massachusetts Trial Courts to provide mediation services in the District and Superior Courts as well as Conciliation services at Lowell District Court. Mediation services are available for private and public disputes on a no-fee or sliding scale fee basis. A 45-hour certificate mediation training is provided several times each year and meets the Supreme Judicial Court's requirements for court-connected mediators. The program was established in 1990.
A new conciliation service started in April 2012. Working in collaboration with the Greater Lowell Bar Association and Lowell District Court, MMC offers free conciliation services to parties at the final pre-trial conference hearing for civil cases at Lowell District Court. Conciliators are experienced attorneys who have participated in an 8-hour training that meets the Supreme Judicial Court's requirements for court-connected conciliators.
SCORE (Student Conflict Resolution Experts)
Since 1991, the Law Center has provided on-site peer mediation at Lowell High School and frequently trains teachers, staff, and students in mediation in other communities. The SCORE program is a schools-based, violence prevention partnership between the Massachusetts Office of the Attorney General, Lowell Public Schools and Middlesex Community College. The statewide SCORE (Student Conflict Resolution Experts) program mediates several thousand cases each year.
International Programs at MCC Law Center
The U.S. State Department awarded the Law Center a grant from 1997-2002 to design and implement a conflict resolution program in Cambodia at their national university. Law Center Director, Prof. Ken Dunn and other MCC faculty and staff have traveled to Cambodia over the past several years to implement this grant. Prof. Dunn also served as Project Director for a Fulbright-Hays scholarship program with UMASS-Lowell and MCC awarded for study in Cambodia in 2002 and is currently leading a project developing a law program with the National Institute of Management in Phnom Penh. He was selected to serve as International Observer with the Cambodian human rights NGO,NICFEC, in the July 2003 national elections.
Staff
Director - Kenneth Dunn
Coordinator - Consumer Protection - Deborah Walsh
Mediation Coordinator and Conciliation Administrator - Middlesex Mediation & Conciliation
Program - Martha Wright
Coordinator - SCORE - Yvette Thomas
