In 2007, the
Sacramento Superior Court will be offering a new
court-administered mediation program in civil cases
as another form of its Alternative Dispute
Resolution Program. This voluntary program will
provide mediation at no cost to the litigants as
described below. With this additional choice,
Sacramento Superior Court ADR options will now
include (1) mandatory judicial arbitration; (2)
voluntary court or private mediation; and (3)
mandatory settlement conferences.
Parties choosing
to participate in the court mediation program can
either choose a private mediator or can choose a
mediator from a Court-approved list of neutrals.
Neutrals on the Court-approved list must apply to
the Court and be approved by the Court’s Alternative
Dispute Resolution Committee. The court, not the
parties, will compensate the neutrals at a rate of
$200 for the first 3 hours of actual mediation
time. If the parties desire to continue with the
mediation after the initial 3 hours, the parties
will then bear the additional cost of the mediation
at rates agreed upon with the neutral.
The court
anticipates referring cases to the mediation program
sometime in the first quarter of 2007 and it will be
operated as a one year pilot.
Attorneys
interested in applying to serve as court appointed
mediators are encouraged to apply immediately. You
can download the
Mediation Panelist Application. Send the
completed application to: Superior Court of
Sacramento County, 720 9th Street, Room 101,
Sacramento, CA 95814, Attn: ADR Administrator.
You will need the free
Adobe® Reader® to download the application.
