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Confidentiality's Constitutionality: The Incursion On Judicial Powers To Regulate Parties In Court-Connected Mediation, Maureen A. Weston Prof.

Maureen A Weston

This Article explores the interplay between mediation confidentiality legislation and judicial powers to regulate participant conduct in the pretrial process. Part II describes the role of the court in monitoring parties' conduct in distinct settlement-related processes, such as private settlement negotiations, judicial settlement conferences, court-connected arbitration, and court-connected mediation, as well as the corresponding but varied confidentiality protection accorded these processes. Part III examines judicial decisions analyzing the tension between mediation confidentiality and judicial power to monitor and sanction misconduct in a settlement or court-connected mediation setting, specifically comparing the approach used by the California Supreme Court in Foxgate Homeowners’ …