Confidentiality in Mediation

"Protecting Confidential Information in Commercial Mediations" 

is a new article by Paul Lurie and Sharon Press.

Despite the Uniform Mediation Act, "there is no uniformity in the United States as to how or when information disclosed in mediation may be used or protected from use in subsequent legal proceedings. This confusion about the protection of information may discourage parties in commercial disputes from using mediation. For those parties who decide to enter mediation, the Model Standards of Conduct for Mediators make the mediator responsible for promoting understanding “of the extent to which the parties will maintain confidentiality of information they obtain in a mediation.”"

This article includes a suggested mediation confidentiality clause that can be used in agreements to mediate commercial disputes.