### IN THE TENTH COURT OF APPEALS No. 10
- 19
- 00279
- CV MELISSA BENNER, AS ADMINISTRATOR OF THE ESTATE OF RUTH MARIE WARREN , Appellant s v. KRYSTAL S. ARMSTRONG AND JEFFERY LEE ARMSTRONG , Appellee s

From the 414th District Court McLennan County, Te xas Trial Court No. 2012
- 3621
- 5

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 reso lution (ADR) procedures. See T EX
. C IV
. P RAC
. & R EM
. C ODE A NN
. §§ 154.001

- 154.073 (West 2011). The policy behind ADR is stated in the statute: “It is the policy o f this state to encourage the peaceable resolution of disputes ... and the early settlemen t of pending litigation through voluntary settlement procedures.” Id . § 154.002.Benner v. Armstrong Page 2

Mediation is a form of ADR. Mediation is a mandatory but non

- binding settlement
conf erence, conducted with the assistance of a mediator. Mediation is private,
confidential , an d privileged.
We find that this appeal is appropriate for mediation. See id. § 154.021(a)

. The parties are ordered to confer and attempt to agree upon a mediato r. Accordingly, we
refer this appeal to mediation.
Within twenty

- eight days after the date of this Order, Justin Anderson is ordered to file a notice with the Clerk of this Court which either identifies the agreed

- upon mediator or states that the pa rties are unable to agree upon a mediator. If the notice states that the parties are unable to a gree upon a mediator, this Court will assign a
mediator.
Mediation must occur within sixty days after the date of this order; however, it is left to the parties and the mediator to agree on the location of the mediation.
No less than seven calendar day s before the first scheduled mediation session, each party must provide the mediator and all other 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 par ties must produce all information necessary for the mediator to understand the issues presented. The mediator may require any party to supplement the information required by this Order. Named parties must be present during the entire mediation process.Benner v. Armstrong Page 3

Im mediately after mediation, the mediator must advise this Court, in writing, only that the ca se did or did not settle and the amount of the mediator’s fee paid by each party. The mediator’s fees will be taxed as costs. Unless the mediator agrees to

me diat e without fee, the mediator must negotiate a reasonable fee with the parties, and the partie s must each pay one

- half of 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 Order must be filed with this Court and served upon all parties within twenty days after the date of this Order, or it is waived. We refer this appeal to mediation. The appeal and all appellate d eadlines are suspended as of the date of this Order. The suspension of the appeal is autom atically lifted when the mediator’s report to the Court is received. If the matter is not 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 mediator’s report to the Court is received. Any document filed by a party after the date of this Order and prior to the filing of the mediator’s report will be deemed filed on the same day, but after, the mediator’s report is received.

PER CURIAMBenner v. Armstrong Page 4

Before Chief Justice Gray, Justice Davis, and Justice Neill Order issued and filed April 15 , 2020 [RWR]