### IN THE TENTH COURT OF APPEALS

No. 10

- 17

- 00273

- CV

ACE PROPERTY & CASUALTY INSURANCE CO. , Appellant

v.

HOMER LADD , Appellee

From the 414th District Court McLennan County, Texas Trial Court No. 2014

- 2948

- 5

AMENDED REFER R AL TO MEDIATIO N ORDER

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. The policy behind ADR is stated in the statute: “It is the policy of this
state to encourage the peaceable 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 settlement conference,Ace Prop

. & Cas

. Ins

. Co. v. Ladd Page 2 conducted with the assistance of a mediator. Mediation is private, confidential, and
privileged.
We find that this appeal is appropriate for mediation. See id. § 154.021(a ).

Further, having been advised that the mediator as signed pursuant to an Order

of the Court issued on March 22, 2021 , has a conflict of interest, the Court assigns the

Honorable Jeff Rose as the mediator for this proceeding. H is address and contact

number are as follows:

Jeff Rose Rose Resolution Group 3801 N. Capitol of Texas Hwy, Suite E

- 240, # 441 Austin , TX 7 874 6

( 512 ) 750

- 7673 j effrose. atx@gmail.com

Mediation must occur within 60 days from the date of this O rder

. No less than seven calendar days 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 parties 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.
The mediator may make any orders determined to be necessary or appropriate
to conduct the ordered mediation in such a way that the mediation has the bestAce Prop

. & Cas

. Ins

. Co. v. Ladd Page 3 opportunity to reach a successful result. The mediator’s orders may include, but are

not limited to, ordering the mediation to occur entirely via Zoom or some other media
option, ordering the mediation to occur entirely in person at a place and time that the
mediator determines is reasonable in light of the timing of the issues that need to be

resolved, a nd/or assessing the cost of mediation other than equally if one of the parties
seeks accommodations that the mediator determines are not of equal benefit to all the
parties.
Named parties must be present during the entire mediation process, and each

party that is not a natural person must be represented by an employee, officer, agent,
or representative with authority to bind the party to settlement.
Immediately after mediation, the mediator must advise this Court, in writing,
only that the case did or did n ot 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 mediate

without fe e or other arrangements are negotiate d or ordered by the mediator as

authorized above , the mediator must negotiate a reasonable fee with the parties, and
the parties must each pay one

- half of the agreed

- upon fee directly to the mediator.
Failure or refusal to attend the entire 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 allAce Prop

. & Cas

. Ins

. Co. v. Ladd Page 4 parties within ten days after the date of this Order, or it is waived.
We refer this appeal to mediation.
The appeal and all appellate deadlines are suspended as of the date of this

Order. The suspension of the appeal is automatically lifted when the mediator’s report

to the Court is received. If the matter is not resolved at mediation, any deadline that
beg an to run and had not expired by the date of this Order will begin anew as of the

date t he Court receives the mediator’s report

. 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 fil ed
on the same day, but after, the mediator’s report is received.

PER CURIAM
Before Chief Justice Gray, Justice Neill, and Justice Johnson Referred to mediation Order issued and filed March 2 4 , 2021 [RWR]