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Confidentiality

In order to encourage efficient and frank settlement discussions, the Court exercises great care to ensure strict confidentiality of the settlement process. Circuit Rule 33-1 provides that settlement-related information disclosed to a court mediator will be kept confidential and will not be disclosed to the judges deciding the appeal or to any other person outside the Circuit Mediation Program participants. Documents and correspondence related to settlement are maintained only in the Circuit Mediation Office and are never made part of the main Ninth Circuit case file. E-mail correspondence and documents sent directly to the mediators or to the mediation unit are maintained separately from the court's electronic filing and case management system. Should the mediator confer separately with the participants, those discussions shall also be maintained in confidence from the other participants in the settlement discussions to the extent that the communicating parties request.

In addition, parties and their clients who participate in any aspect of the Circuit Mediation Program are expected to respect the confidentiality of the settlement processes and to adhere to the following:

1. Unless they indicate otherwise to the mediator at the initiation of any settlement discussions, all parties, attorneys and other participants in the settlement discussions are assumed to agree that any written or oral communication made by the mediator, or any party, attorney, or other participant in the settlement discussions:



1. may not be used for any purpose in any pending or future proceeding in this or any other court or administrative forum; and



2. may not be disclosed to anyone who is not a participant in the mediation or an authorized agent of a participant.



2. The nondisclosure provisions of paragraph (1) do not apply if such disclosure:



1. is agreed upon by all participants in the mediation and the court; or



2. is made in the context of a subsequent confidential mediation or settlement conference with the agreement of all participants and the subsequent third-party neutral.