Evaluation of the Early Mediation Pilot Programs

Abstract

This is a report about five court-annexed civil mediation programs in California: threemandatory programs operating in the Superior Courts in Fresno, Los Angeles, and SanDiego counties and two voluntary programs operating in the Superior Courts in ContraCosta and Sonoma counties. These five programs, called Early Mediation PilotPrograms, were implemented under a statutory mandate, which authorized early referralsto mediation. The statute required the Judicial Council of California to study the fiveprograms and to report the results of the study to the California Legislature andGovernor.This report was prepared to fulfill that statutory mandate. It describes the results of a 30-month study of these five separate mediation programs. The findings reported belowfocus primarily on the pilot programs’ impact in five areas:(1) the trial rate;(2) the time to disposition;(3) the litigants’ satisfaction with the dispute resolution process;(4) the litigants’ costs; andThis is a report about five court-annexed civil mediation programs in California: threemandatory programs operating in the Superior Courts in Fresno, Los Angeles, and SanDiego counties and two voluntary programs operating in the Superior Courts in ContraCosta and Sonoma counties. These five programs, called Early Mediation PilotPrograms, were implemented under a statutory mandate, which authorized early referralsto mediation. The statute required the Judicial Council of California to study the fiveprograms and to report the results of the study to the California Legislature andGovernor. This report was prepared to fulfill that statutory mandate. It describes the results of a 30-month study of these five separate mediation programs. The findings reported belowfocus primarily on the pilot programs’ impact in five areas: (1) the trial rate;(2) the time to disposition;(3) the litigants’ satisfaction with the dispute resolution process;(4) the litigants’ costs; and(5) the courts' workload.