Court Opinion

ID: 9750885
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-28 15:44:21.188599+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T07:26:27.126739
License: Public Domain

RAYE, J.
I respectfully dissent.
Evidence Code section 1152.5 provides in relevant part that “. . . evidence of anything said or of any admission in the course of the mediation is not admissible ....’’ The issue presented is whether the oral settlement agreement in this case occurred “in the course of mediation.” The majority disclaims any intent to “undertake the task of defining the boundaries of mediation” but nonetheless suggests the boundaries are both temporal and spatial; an oral settlement agreement reached “at the time and in the place set for mediation” is unenforceable. Therefore, one supposes that parties to mediation who reach agreement must either adjourn to a different place and/or time before expressing the agreement, or must reduce the agreement to writing before it can be enforced.
While I recognize the value of “bright line” formulations and the evil of “judicial sifting” in this context, the majority goes too far in imposing limits on the ability of parties to enter into enforceable oral agreements. It might make sense to require settlement agreements for certain types of disputes to be in writing or to impose other safeguards to insure the parties have in fact reached agreement and to discourage “buyers remorse” the morning after. However, it is inappropriate to impose such rules under the guise of statutory construction.
*1014Proof of an oral settlement agreement necessarily precludes a finding that mediation was ongoing. Mediate means “to negotiate a compromise of hostile or incompatible viewpoints.” (Webster’s Third New Intern. Diet. (1961) p. 1402.) Mediation can thus be viewed as a process for negotiating a compromise. As recognized by section 26 of the Judicial Administration Standards relating to child custody mediation, an agreement (including, “under certain circumstances, an oral agreement”) “should be the end product of the mediation process.” (Cal. Standards Jud. Admin., § 26 [Deering’s Cal. Ann. Codes, Rules (Appen.) (1994 supp.) p. 334].) Once a compromise is reached the mediation process is over. An oral agreement cannot be crafted until after compromise has been reached. Therefore an oral statement of the terms of the agreement does not fall within Evidence Code 1152.5.
The majority correctly perceives the challenge to confidentiality created when a party seeks to enforce an oral settlement agreement arising out of mediation. The majority’s resolution, to require any settlement agreement entered into at the conclusion of a single continuous mediation session to be in writing, may be a good idea; however, it is not required by Evidence Code section 1152.5. I would affirm the judgment of the trial court.