Supreme Court of California

In a breach of contract action arising from a medical malpractice suit, wherein plaintiffs sought to enforce an oral settlement agreement allegedly formed during mediation, a ruling upholding a decision to admit evidence relating to the mediation proceedings is reversed where: 1) the court of appeal improperly relied on the doctrine of estoppel to create a judicial exception to the comprehensive statutory scheme of mediation confidentiality; and 2) the evidence relating to the mediation proceedings should not have been admitted at trial.

Appellate Information

• Decided 07/21/2008
• Published 07/21/2008

Judges

• CHIN, J.

Court

• Supreme Court of California

Counsel

• For Appellees:
  
• Morrison & Foerster, Shirley M. Hufstedler, Sarvenaz Bahar, Los Angeles;  Reback, McAndrews & Kjar, Robert C. Reback, Manhattan Beach, and Melanie Shornick, Los Angeles, for Defendant and Appellant., Law Office of Ivan K. Stevenson and Ivan K. Stevenson, Rolling Hills Estates, for Confidential Mediation & Dispute Resolution and Southern California Mediation Association as Amici Curiae on behalf of Defendant and Appellant., James R. Madison, San Francisco;  Farbstein & Blackman and John S. Blackman, San Mateo, for California Dispute Resolution Council as Amicus Curiae on behalf of Defendant and Appellant., Law Offices of James Aaron Pflaster, Martin R. Berman, Stephanie C. Pflaster and James Aaron Pflaster, Los Angeles, for Plaintiffs and Respondents.