Refusal to Make Offer at Mediation Not Bad Faith

Plaintiffs sought sanctions against defendant for refusing to make any offer in mediation while its motion for summary judgment was pending, arguing that defendant should have provided notice that the mediation would be futile. The court denied sanctions, noting that defendant had sent an out-of-state representative to the mediation with full settlement authority, so there was no bad faith. Defendant was helped by the facts that plaintiffs were also mediating an underlying state case with another party in the same mediation, so it was not a wasted process, and that defendant prevailed on its motion for summary judgment. The court noted in passing that what transpired in the mediation was not supposed to be revealed under the confidentiality agreement signed by the parties.

Kline v. State Farm Fire and Casualty Co. , No. 12-CV-00955WJ/RHS (U.S.D.C. D.N.M., April 19, 2013)

Source: Keith Seat’s Mediation News for the 21st Century

Medicare Lien Issues

Check out a May 2013 New Jersey court ruling of interest to anyone who deals with Medicare lien issues, as a mediated settlement was enforced notwithstanding the “no review” status of a proposed Medicare set-aside.

DuHamell v. Renal Care Group East, Inc., et al. and Catherine Ney v. Renal Care Group East, Inc., et al ., 2012 N.J. Super. LEXIS 201 (decided December 7, 2012, and released for publication May 16, 2013),