Court Opinion

ID: 9761012
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-29 01:28:20.820333+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T07:29:19.628030
License: Public Domain

DEL SOLE, Judge,
dissenting:
The majority, based upon the conclusion that the judicial privilege does not extend to proceedings such as the instant fee determination dispute, has remanded the case for further proceedings in the trial court. I disagree.
Remand is required initially because it is not apparent from the record whether Appellant participated in the proceedings before the Special Fee Determination Committee of the Allegheny County Bar Association. The rules governing proceedings before the Committee require the agreement of both parties to participate in the proceedings and to have their dispute resolved by the Committee in order for the determination to be binding upon both of them. Therefore, the trial court must first determine whether Appellant agreed to participate. If he did not, the determination is not binding upon him and judicial immunity is inapplicable.
However, if it is determined that he did participate, judicial immunity should extend to protect the interests served by alternative dispute resolution proceedings such as the one in the instant case. Because such proceedings are designed to provide a forum for timely and conclusive resolution of disputes, the same privilege of judicial immunity should be extended to them, thus insuring the same efficiency inherent in the judicial process. Pennsylvania has no case law which prohibits the extension of immunity to alternative dispute resolution proceedings, and its public policy of facilitating efficient and effective resolution of disputes would be served by extending this privilege. Therefore, if both parties participated in the proceedings so as to be bound by the determina*351tion, the privilege would extend to protect statements made concerning Appellant in the complaint, and Appellant’s claim of defamation would be dismissed.
I respectfully dissent.