Parties can't be forced to mediate disputes, according to the California Court of Appeals

A court can't require a litigant to participate in mediation and pay the mediator's hourly fee, according to a case issued last week by the California Court of Appeals.  California has adopted laws allowing courts to order certain cases into mediation, and courts also commonly allow parties voluntarily to attempt to settle cases with the assistance of a mediator.  In  Jeld-Wen, Inc. v. Superior Court, the trial court in a multi-party construction defect case issued a case management order requiring that the parties participate in settlement conferences with a mediator, for a maximum of 100 hours.  The parties were ordered to pay the mediators' fee of $500 per hour.  When Jeld-Wen, which denied liability in the case, refused to attend a mediation session, the court issued an order compelling its participation and imposing monetary sanctions.

On review, the California Court of Appeals held that mediation is always voluntary, and a trial court has no authority to force a party to attend and pay for mediation.  "While trial courts may try to cajole the parties in complex actions into stipulating to private mediation, [the parties] cannot be forced or coerced over the threat of sanctions into attending and paying for private mediation, as this is antithetical to the entire concept of mediation."