26-1-813. Mediation -- confidentiality -- privilege -- exceptions. - Montana Statutes

     26-1-813. Mediation -- confidentiality -- privilege -- exceptions. (1) Mediation means a private, confidential, informal dispute resolution process in which an impartial and neutral third person, the mediator, assists disputing parties to resolve their differences. In the mediation process, decisionmaking authority remains with the parties and the mediator does not have authority to compel a resolution or to render a judgment on any issue. A mediator may encourage and assist the parties to reach their own mutually acceptable settlement by facilitating an exchange of information between the parties, helping to clarify issues and interests, ensuring that relevant information is brought forth, and assisting the parties to voluntarily resolve their dispute.
     (2) Except upon written agreement of the parties and the mediator, mediation proceedings must be:
     (a) confidential;
     (b) held without a verbatim record; and
     (c) held in private.
     (3) A mediator's files and records, with the exception of signed, written agreements, are closed to all persons unless the parties and the mediator mutually agree otherwise. Except as provided in subsection (5), all mediation-related communications, verbal or written, between the parties or from the parties to the mediator and any information and evidence presented to the mediator during the proceedings are confidential. The mediator's report, if any, and the information or recommendations contained in it, with the exception of a signed, written agreement, are not admissible as evidence in any action subsequently brought in any court of law or before any administrative agency and are not subject to discovery or subpoena in any court or administrative proceeding unless all parties waive the rights to confidentiality and privilege.
     (4) Except as provided in subsection (5), the parties to the mediation and a mediator are not subject to subpoena by any court or administrative agency and may not be examined in any action as to any communication made during the course of the mediation proceeding without the consent of the parties to the mediation and the mediator.
     (5) The confidentiality and privilege provisions of this section do not apply to information revealed in a mediation if disclosure is:
     (a) required by any statute;
     (b) agreed to by the parties and the mediator in writing, whether prior to, during, or subsequent to the mediation; or
     (c) necessary to establish a claim or defense on behalf of the mediator in a controversy between a party to the mediation and the mediator.
     (6) Nothing in this section prohibits a mediator from conveying information from one party to another during the mediation, unless a party objects to disclosure.

     History: En. Sec. 1, Ch. 481, L. 1999.