Ryan

May evidence of statements made during mediation be admitted in court to prove the parties orally settled the dispute? The trial *1008 court concluded it may. We disagree. Admission of such evidence violates the prohibition of Evidence Code section 1152.5 which protects statements made in mediation from use in litigation. Accordingly, we reverse.

Facts and Procedure

In 1989, plaintiffs Donald and Richard Ryan purchased the Old Roseville Opera House from defendant Ralph Garcia. Finding defects in the building, the Ryans sued Garcia for negligent construction and fraud.

The parties privately agreed to mediate the dispute and hired a mediator. The mediator drafted a confidentiality agreement, quoting subdivisions (a) and (b) of Evidence Code section 1152.5. 1 The mediator and parties signed the agreement.

Mediation began at 10 a.m. and concluded about 2:30 p.m. on March 11, 1992. It appears the mediator conferred with the parties separately. Eventually, the mediator called the parties together and announced an agreement. For the next 15 minutes, someone, it is not clear who, stated the terms of that agreement. Garcia’s attorney was assigned to reduce the agreement to…

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…

May evidence of statements made during mediation be admitted in court to prove the parties orally settled the dispute? The trial court concluded it may. We disagree. Admission of such evidence violates the prohibition of Evidence Code section 1152.5 which protects statements made in mediation from use in litigation. Accordingly, we reverse.

In 1989, plaintiffs Donald and Richard Ryan purchased the Old Roseville Opera House from defendant Ralph Garcia. Finding defects in the building, the Ryans sued Garcia for negligent construction and fraud.

The parties privately agreed to mediate the dispute and hired a mediator. The mediator drafted a confidentiality agreement, quoting subdivisions (a) and (b) of Evidence Code section 1152.5. [1] The mediator and parties signed the agreement.

Mediation began at 10 a.m. and concluded about 2:30 p.m. on March 11, 1992. It appears the mediator conferred with the parties separately. Eventually, the mediator called the parties together and announced an agreement. For the next 15 minutes, someone, it is not clear who, stated the terms of that agreement. Garcia's attorney was assigned to reduce the agreement to writing, and…