Order issued November 25, 2020

In The 

## Court of Appeals

For The 

## First District of Texas

NO. 01

- 20

- 00762

- CV

NORMAN J. SILVERMAN , Appellant

V.

SONIC AUTOMOTIVE, JVP, LP D/B/A MOMENTUM PORSCHE AND PORSCHE CARS NORTH AMERICA, INC.
, Appellee s

On Appeal from 269th District Court
Harris County, Texas
Trial Court Cause No. 2019

- 38107



### MEMORANDUM ORDER
OF REFERRAL TO MEDIATION

The Court determines that it is appropriate to refer this appeal for resolution

by mediation. See T EX

. C IV

. P RAC

. & R EM

. C ODE A NN

. §§ 154.021, 154.022(a),

154.023 (Vernon 20 11 ). Accordingly, the Court orders that this appeal be referredto mediation unle ss any party to the appeal files an objection with the Clerk of this

Court within ten days after receiving this order. See id. § 154.022(b).

The parties shall choose a qualified mediator and agree on a reasonable fee

for the mediator’s services. 1 See i d. §§ 154.052, 154.054(a) (Vernon 20 11 ).

The Court sets the following deadlines:

• No later than 15 days from the date that this order is issued, the parties shall file with the Clerk of this Court a completed “Parties’
Notification to Court of Mediator.” This document can be downloaded from the forms page of the Court’s website at http://www.txcourts.gov/1stcoa

.

• No later than 45 days from the date that this order is issued, the parties shall conduct the mediation.

• No later than two days from the conclusion of the mediation, the parties and the mediator sh all advise the Clerk of this Court in writing whether the parties did or did not settle the underlying dispute.

All parties, or their representative with full settlement authority, shall attend

the mediation with their counsel. The mediator shall encour age and assist the parties

in reaching a settlement of their dispute, but may not compel or coerce the parties to

enter into a settlement agreement. See id. § 154.053(a) (Vernon 20 11 ). All

1 The Court does not recommend mediators. Mediation information is available from the Dispute Resolution Center of Harris County ((713) 755

- 8274 and https://drc.harriscountytx.gov/ ), the Fort Bend Dispute Reso lution Center ((281) 342

- 5000), the Alternate Dispute Resolution Section of the State Bar of Texas ( http://www.texasadr.org/ ), and other groups. The parties are not required to use a mediator recommended or listed by these groups.communications relating to the mediation are confidential and not subject to

disclosure, except as set forth by law. See id. § 154.073 (Vernon 20 11 ). The Clerk

of this Court, however, will file this order, any objection to this order, and the

completed “Parties’ Notification to Court of Mediator” with the other documents

filed in this appeal that are available for public inspection.

Unless expressly authorized by the disclosing party, the mediator may not

disclose to either party information given in confidence by the other and shall at all

times maintain confid entiality with respect to communications relating to the subject

matter of the dispute. See id. § 154.053(b). Unless the parties agree otherwise, all

matters, including the conduct and demeanor of the parties and their counsel during

the settlement proce ss, are confidential and may never be disclosed to anyone,

including this Court. See id. § 154.053(c).

The Court will consider the agreed fee for the mediator’s services to be

reasonable and tax that fee as a cost of the appeal unless the parties agree t o another

method of payment. See id. § 154.054.

/s/ Gordon Goodman
Justice Gordon Goodman Acting Individually