News Release: Task Force Issues Report On Appellate Mediation


Release Date: September 21, 2001	Release Number: 64

Task Force Issues Report On Appellate Mediation

San Francisco—Mediated cases in the Courts of Appeal are less costly, significantly reduce resolution time, and lead to a high degree of user satisfaction, according to a new report by the Task Force on Appellate Mediation. The chair of the task force is Associate Justice Ignazio J. Ruvolo of the Court of Appeal, First Appellate District.

Appointed by the Chief Justice in 1997, the task force recommended an experimental mediation program for civil appeals in the First Appellate District. Pursuant to the recommendations of the task force, the Judicial Council sponsored a two-year pilot program for mandatory mediation in the First District. The goals of the program were to address the interests of both litigants and the court by reducing costs, time to resolution, and the adversary culture of litigation, while increasing litigant satisfaction with the judicial process and dispositions without judicial intervention. The program was funded by the Legislature for the pilot period from July 1, 1999, through June 30, 200l.

In its report on the two-year pilot program, the task force found that:

Over 43 percent of the mediations resulted in full settlements.
Counsel participating in the mediation program estimated net savings in excess of $6.2 million for their clients.
The median time from the filing of the Notice of Appeal to resolution was 3.9 months for mediated appeals compared to 14 months for all appeals.
Settlements were achieved through cooperative efforts of the parties with the assistance of court-appointed mediators.
Over 80 percent of the parties and their counsel would use the mediation process and the mediator again.
Trial courts also benefited, as a result of fewer reversals and global settlements, in which pending trial court proceedings were resolved along with the appeal.

These results were attributable to the skills of 146 mediators who were recruited and trained by the court. They serve on a largely pro bono basis.

Due to the success of the pilot program, the task force has made five recommendations:

1) The mediation program should be extended indefinitely in the First Appellate District.
2) Participation in the mediation program should continue to be mandatory.
3) Court-sponsored training should remain an integral part of any appellate mediation program.
4) The program should retain its pro bono feature. However, the number of pro bono hours demanded from mediators
     should be limited. After the limit has been reached, mediators should receive reasonable compensation from the
     parties.
5) Other appellate districts should have the option of developing or expanding their own alternative dispute resolution
     programs, with the financial assistance of the Administrative Office of the Courts, if necessary.

Copies of the body of the report, Mandatory Mediation in the First Appellate District of the Court of Appeal: Report and Recommendations, can be found on the California Courts Web site at www.courtinfo.ca.gov/reference/documents/mediation.pdf. For more information, contact John Toker, the court’s mediation program administrator, at 415-865-7373.

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