Dispute Resolution and Arbitration Commons^™

Court Issues Major Ruling On Mediation Confidentiality, Richard C. Reuben

Faculty Publications

A prominent federal court judge has issued an important ruling on mediation confidentiality, one that promises to influence both doctrinal and legislative development.

The case is Olan v Congress Mortgage Co., 1999 WL 909731 (N.D.Cal.), and in it, federal Magistrate Judge Wayne Brazil ultimately compels testimony by a California mediator, despite California's categorical exclusion of evidence arising from mediations. The lengthy opinion is most scholarly, and well worth taking the time to read.

Federal Court Positively Adopts A Federal Common Law Testimonial Privilege For Mediation: Is It Justified - Folb V. Motion Picture Industry Pension & (And) Health Plans, Ryan D. O'Dell

Journal of Dispute Resolution

Mediation is a popular means of alternative dispute resolution that has proliferated in recent years. Virtually every state has adopted some form of testimonial privilege to protect the confidentiality of private parties participating in mediation. The federal courts, however, have never adopted a mediation privilege protecting the confidentiality of mediation between private parties in federal court. Federal courts have relied on other evidentiary, procedural and contractual protections to ensure that communications articulated during mediation will not be used for purposes outside mediation proceedings. Finding these protections inadequate to insulate parties in private mediation proceedings from third party discovery, the United …

On Teaching Mediation, Edwin H. Greenebaum

Journal of Dispute Resolution

In this article, I will delineate the issues and explore the implications of resolving them in different ways. Part I develops a taxonomy of variations in models of mediation. In Part II, I analyze choices and constraints in course design. In Part III, I specify the choices I have made in structuring my own course in mediation. I will relate those choices to the context of my school, to my students' backgrounds and interests, and to my competencies and goals. The initial version of this paper was written for my students to read as they entered my course. Pedagogically, the …

Use Of Mediation In Employment Discrimination Cases, The, Matt A. Mayer

Journal of Dispute Resolution

This Article will address the issues noted above. Part II discusses the realities for employers and employees created by the increased filing of employment discrimination claims. Part III encapsulates the procedural movement of a claim through the EEOC. Part IV summarizes the mediation process and notes why mediation is one of the methods used to deal with these claims. Part V highlights the pros and cons associated with the mediation of employment discrimination claims. Part VI discusses the inherent tensions between the goals of mediation and the goals of the anti-discrimination laws, as well as the inherent tensions that naturally …

Evaluating Bankruptcy Mediation, William J. Woodward Jr.

Journal of Dispute Resolution

This Article aims to do several things. First, it will briefly describe a court sponsored mediation program developed several years ago by the court and bankruptcy bar in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania. The program depended on trained mediators who did their work on court-selected bankruptcy matters on a pro bono basis. Partly because of its "cost-free" nature, the program created a need for periodic evaluation to ensure the court and bar that it was delivering positive results without inflicting undesirable hidden costs on the participants or the local bankruptcy system as a whole.6