### IN THE TENTH COURT OF APPEALS
No. 10
- 12
- 00434
- CV
MICHAEL A. PEREZ AND ELIZABETH A. PEREZ , Appellant s v. BOBBY FELDER D/B/A F &W ELECTRIC , Appellee

From the 361st District Court Brazos County, Texas Trial Court No. 12
- 001846
- CV
- 361

ORDER O F R E F E R R A L T O M E D I A T I O N
The Legislature has provided for the resolution of disputes through alternative dispute resolution (ADR) procedures. See T EX

. C IV

. P RAC

. & R EM

. C ODE A NN

. §§ 154.001

- 154.073 ( West 20 11 ). The policy behind ADR is stated in the statute: “It is the policy of this state to encourage the peacea ble resolution of disputes ... and the early settlement of pending litigation through voluntary settlement procedures.” Id . § 154.002. Mediation is a form of ADR. Mediation is a mandatory but non

- binding settlementPerez v. Felder Page 2

conference, conducted with the assistance of a mediator. Mediation is private, confidential, and privileged. We find that this appeal is appropriate for media tion. See id. § 154.021(a); 10 TH
T EX

. A PP

. (W ACO ) L OC . R. 9. Judge Rick Morris (ph. 254

- 718

- 3388) is appointed as Mediator. T he Mediator will negotiate a reasonable fee with the parties, and Appellant and Appellee shall each
pay one - half of the fee direc tly to the Mediator. The total fee will ultimately be taxed as costs by the Court. Mediation must occur within sixty days after the date of this order. The parties
are directed to confer with the Mediator to establish a date for the m ediation. In the event the parties cannot agree on a date for the mediation, the Mediator shall select and
set a date and time

. No less than seven calendar days before the first scheduled mediation session, each party must provide the mediator and all o ther parties with an information sheet setting forth the party’s positions about the issues that need to be resolved. At or before the first session, all parties must produce all information necessary for the mediator to understand the issues presented. The mediator may require any party to supplement
th e information required by this o rder. Named parties must be present during the entire mediation process, and each party that is not a natural person must be represented by a n employee, officer, agent , or representative with authority to bind the party to settlement.Perez v. Felder Page 3

Immediately after mediation, the mediator must advise this Court, in writing, only that the case did or did not settle and the amount of the mediator’s fee paid by each party. The mediator’ s fee will be taxed as costs. Unless the mediator agrees to mediate without fee, the mediator must negotiate a reasonable fee with the parties, and the parties must each pay the agreed

- upon fee directly to the mediator.
Failure or refusal to attend the mediation as scheduled may result in the imposition of sanctions, as permitted by law. Any objection to this o rder must be filed with this Court and served upon all parties within t en days after the date of this o rder, or it is waived.
We grant Appe llants’ motion for mediation and refer this appeal to mediation. The appeal and all appellate deadlines are suspended as of the date of this order. The suspension is automatically lifted when the Court receives the mediator’s report. If
the case is no t resolved at mediation, any deadline that began to run and had not expired by the date of this order will begin anew as of the date the Court receives the mediator’s report. Any document filed by a party after the date of this order and before the receip t of the mediator’s report will be deemed filed on the same day, but after the mediator’s report is received.

PER CURIAM Before Chief Justice Gray, Justice Davis , and Justice Scoggins Order issued and filed September 26, 2013 D o not publish