Flick

The primary issue on this appeal involves an entertainment industry ADR (alternative dispute resolution) procedure gone seriously awry. The ADR procedure took place in two phases. After a preliminary injunction and related contempt proceeding, the parties stipulated to a voluntary mediation. The mediation yielded a one-page memorandum covering many material terms, but also providing that the parties would “formalize” additional material terms later. Anticipating possible dispute over these additional terms, the parties also agreed to “reserve jurisdiction” in the mediator “to resolve any dispute” over the “documentation” of their settlement and to “administer any process, including fact-finding, for a full implementation of the settlement.”

When the parties attempted to “formalize” the additional terms, numerous disputes became apparent. Respondents then filed a “Motion to Specifically Enforce Settlement” pursuant to Code of Civil Procedure section 664.6 (section 664.6) This “motion” was filed not with the court, but rather with the mediator (hereafter private judge). The second ADR phase then followed pursuant to the clause quoted above. The exact nature of this second…