Mediation Case Law: 2005 in Review - WAMR 2006 Vol. 17, No. 2

Author(s):

James R. Coben

Page Count:

15 pages

Media Description:

PDF from World Arbitration and Mediation Report (WAMR) 2006 Vol. 17, No. 2

Published:

February, 2006

Jurisdictions:

United States

Practice Areas:

Court Decisions,

Mediation

Author Detail:

James Coben, Director of Hamline’s Dispute Resolution Institute and WAMR Editor for Domestic Mediation

PDF164.26 KB

$40.00

Description:

Originally from: World Arbitration and Mediation Report (WAMR)

Preview Page

Mediation Case Law: 2005 in Review

by James R. Coben∗

1. Enforcement of Mediated Settlements

STATE SUPREME COURTS

Chantey Music Pub., Inc. v. Malaco, Inc., 915 So. 2d 1052 (Miss. 2005)

(affirming enforcement of mediated copyright settlement despite

plaintiff’s allegations of duress and coercion, where plaintiff was present

and represented by counsel during the entire mediation and testimony of

both sides’ lawyers, as well as the mediator and opposing party, revealed

arms-length bargaining, a lack of any oppression, and clear

communication of all settlement terms to the plaintiff).

Ledbetter v. Ledbetter, 163 S.W.3d 681 (Tenn. 2005) (refusing to enforce

divorce settlement orally dictated by mediator and affirmed by parties and

their counsel at mediation, where the settlement was later repudiated by

one of the parties, and never reduced to writing and presented to the court

for approval).

White v. Fleet Bank of Maine, 875 A.2d 680 (Me. 2005) (enforcing oral

mediated settlement of probate dispute against challenge by a descendant

that it was an unenforceable agreement to agree, where three witnesses to

the mediation, including the mediator, the trustee’s attorney, and a

guardian ad litem, testified that an enforceable agreement had been

reached, and all of the parties’ post-mediation correspondence made

references to the “agreement” reached in mediation).

FEDERAL COURTS OF APPEAL

Beazer East, Inc. v. Mead Corp., 412 F.3d 429 (3d Cir. 2005) (refusing to

enforce alleged oral mediated settlement in light of “sound judicial policy”

compelling conclusion that parties in appellate mediation can only be

bound by a written settlement, especially where the existence or terms of

the disputed agreement cannot be proved without violating the

confidentiality provisions of the local appellate rules), petition for cert.

filed, 74 USLW 3275 (Oct 19, 2005) (No. 05-524).

In re Rains, 428 F.3d 893 (9th Cir. 2005) (concluding that bankruptcy

court did not clearly err in finding a debtor mentally competent to enter

into a mediated settlement where witnesses to the day-long mediation

testified that the debtor “participated actively and appeared to have full

understanding of what was transpiring and of the terms of the settlement,”

notwithstanding that immediately following the conclusion of mediation