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2007 J. Disp. Resol. 101 (2007)
Following the Script: An Empirical Analysis of Court-Ordered Mediation of Medical Malpractice Cases

handle is hein.journals/jdisres2007 and id is 105 raw text is: Following the Script: An Empirical Analysis of Court-Ordered Mediation of Medical Malpractice Cases Ralph Peeples, Catherine Hirris** and Thomas Metzloff'** I. INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................ 10 1 II. THE RELEVANT LITERATURE .......................................................................... 102 III. M ETH O D S ..................................................................................................... 103 IV . F IN D IN G S ....................................................................................................... 104 A . The C ases ................................................................................................ 104 B. M ediator Characteristics ........................................................................ 107 C . The Joint Session .................................................................................... 109 D . The Private Sessions ............................................................................... 111 V . M EDIATOR A CTIONS ....................................................................................... 112 V I. BEHAVIOR B Y COUNSEL ............................................................................... 114 V II. T HE PROCESS ............................................................................................... 114 VIII. EVENTUAL CASE OUTCOME ....................................................................... 116 IX. DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION ..................................................................... 117 I. INTRODUCTION Court-ordered mediation of civil cases has become an accepted part of the litigation process in a number of states and in some federal courts.' The wide- spread growth of court-ordered mediation is not difficult to explain. First of all, the process appears to produce settlements, although because most cases settle anyway, it is difficult to say that court-ordered mediation reduces trial rates.2 It does, however, at least provide a structured opportunity for settlement discussions, if the parties are so inclined. Second, court-ordered mediation is a process usually * Catherine Harris is a professor of sociology at Wake Forest University. ** Thomas Metzloff is a professor of law at Duke University Law School. *** Ralph Peeples is a professor of law at Wake Forest University School of Law. This research was supported with funding from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, Princeton, New Jersey, Grant I.D. #027071. 1. CARRIE MENKEL-MEADOW, LELA P. LOVE, & ANDREA SCHNEIDER, DISPUTE RESOLUTION: BEYOND THE ADVERSARIAL MODEL 274 (2005); COURT-ANNEXED MEDIATION: CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES ON SELECTED STATE AND FEDERAL PROGRAMS v (Edward Bergman & John Bicker- man eds., 1998). 2. This conclusion was drawn from the 1995 study of the North Carolina mediated settlement conference program by the Institute of Government. See STEVENS H. CLARKE, ELIZABETH D. ALLEN & KELLY MCCORMICK, COURT-ORDERED CIVIL CASE MEDIATION IN NORTH CAROLINA: AN EVALUATION OF ITS EFFECTS 55-56 (1995). See generally Marc Galanter, The Vanishing Trial: An Examination of Trials and Related Matters in Federal and State Courts, I J. EMP. LEGAL STUD. 459 (2004) (an examination of the fact that many more cases settle than go to trial); Marc Galanter & Mia Cahill, Most Cases Settle: Judicial Promotion and Regulation of Settlements, 46 STAN. L. REV. 1339 (1994) (same).

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