Perspective
Jun. 4, 2016
Mediation confidentiality: a wall against malpractice claims or a sieve?
For those of us who mediate cases with regularity, thus saving the judicial system and our clients from unnecessary trials, the question is: Should we be amending our mediation statutes at all? By Louie Castoria
Louie H. Castoria
Partner
Kaufman, Dolowich & Voluck LLP
425 California St 21st Fl
San Francisco , CA 94104
Phone: (415) 926-7601
Fax: (415) 926-7601
Email: lcastoria@kdvlaw.com
UC Berkeley Boalt Hall
Louie is a mediator with CourtCall Online Dispute Resolution, a member of the Mediation Society, a mandatory settlement officer with the San Francisco County Superior Court, and an adjunct professor of law at Golden Gate University. He won his first U.S. Supreme Court on July 1, 2021.
Mediations give the litigants a confidential forum to discuss, with the aid of a neutral mediator, the pros and cons of settling and the terms of settlement. But does that confidentiality bar malpractice claims by parties who experience "settlers' remorse" and blame their counsel? The answer may be changing in California.
Confidentiality may not be as much a "given" as we assume:
* There is an ongoing study by the Ca...
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