### IN THE TENTH COURT OF APPEALS No. 10
- 16
- 00272
- CV WG&D MASONRY, LLC , Appellant v. LONG ISLAND'S FINEST HOMES, LLC , Appellee

From the 40th District Court Ellis County, Texas Trial Court No. 92757

ORDER OF REFERRAL TO MEDIATION
Appellant indicated in its docketing statement that this appeal should be referred
to mediation. 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 peaceable resolution of disputes . . . and the early settlement of pending litigation through voluntary settlement procedures.” Id . § 154.002 ( WestWG&D Masonry, LLC v. Long Island's Finest Homes, LLC Page 2

20 11 ). Mediation is a form of ADR. Mediation is a mandatory but non - binding settlement conference, 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) ( West
20 11 ); 10 TH T EX
. A PP
. (W ACO ) L OC . R. 9. The parties are ordered to confer and attempt to agree upon a mediator. Within fourteen days after the date of this Order, Appellant is ordered to file a notice with the Clerk of this Court which either identifies the agreed

- upon mediator or states t hat the parties are unable to agree upon a mediator. If the notice states that the parties are unable to agree upon a mediator, this Court will assign a mediator. Mediation must occur within thirty days after the date the above

- referenced notice agreein g to a mediator is filed or, if no mediator is agreed upon, within thirty days after the date of the order assigning a mediator. 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 the information required by this Order. Named parties must be present during the entire mediation process, and eachWG&D Masonry, LLC v. Long Island's Finest Homes, LLC Page 3

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. 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 fees 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 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 all parties within ten days after the date of this Order, or i t 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 matte r 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 prio r 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 CURIAMWG&D Masonry, LLC v. Long Island's Finest Homes, LLC Page 4

Before Chief Justice Gray, Justice Davis , and Justice Scoggins Order issued and filed December 14 , 2016