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THE RESOLUTION REPORT ONLINE

May 2008 - Volume 23, Number 1

News on Dispute Resolution trends, laws and ethics
The opinions of the Mediator Ethics Advisory Committee are rendered pursuant to the authority of rule 10.900, Florida Rules for Certified and Court-Appointed Mediators, and are based on the specific facts outlined in the question. They are based on the Committee's interpretation of the rules in effect on the date the opinions were rendered. The summary of each opinion has been prepared for quick reference. Any inconsistency between the summary and the opinion should be resolved in favor of the opinion.
Mediator Ethics Advisory Committee issued the following opinions since the last Resolution Report: Click on the number to go to the full Opinion.

A.  No, it would not be appropriate to routinely attach the mediated settlement agreement to a circuit civil case in light of the requirements of rule 1.730(b), Florida Rules of Civil Procedure.

B.  No, see above.

C.  The Committee declines to answer this question since it asks for an opinion on the behavior of someone other than a certified or court-appointed mediator.

Conducting a second mediation with only three of the original four parties to a prior mediation agreement (the fourth party is not aware of the second mediation), which was based on the occurrence of a contingent event, prior to the deadline for the contingency to have occurred, would be inconsistent with your ethical obligations.

Following a judicial requirement limiting the participants in the mediation would not require the mediator to commit an ethical violation and therefore may be complied with without conflicting with the opinion rendered in MEAC 2006-007.

It is not ethically proper to prepare retirement orders after having served as mediator for the case regardless of whether the parties have waived any conflict of interest. 

A mediator who was a former judge may include the referenced information in marketing material if the information is accurate and honest and is not false or misleading.

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