As amended through October 1, 2024
Rule 88.08 - Confidentiality and Settlement(a) Mediation proceedings shall be regarded as settlement proceedings. With the exception of information released pursuant to Rule 88.06(a)(6), any communication relating to the subject matter of such disputes made during the mediation by any participant, mediator, or other person present at the mediation shall be a confidential communication. No admission, representation, statement, or other confidential communication made in setting up or conducting a mediation shall be admissible as evidence or subject to discovery except that no fact independently discoverable shall be immune from discovery by virtue of having been disclosed in such confidential communication.(b) No person who serves as a mediator, nor any agent or employee of that person, shall be subpoenaed or otherwise compelled to disclose any matter disclosed in the process of setting up or conducting the mediation.(c) All mediations shall be non-binding unless the parties enter into a written agreement as provided in Rule 88.08(d). A written agreement shall be binding to the extent not prohibited by law. (d) Settlement shall be by a written document setting out the essential terms of the agreement executed after the mediation's termination. (e) An individual or organization providing mediation services pursuant to this Rule 88 or any agent or employee of the individual or organization may be called in an action to enforce the written settlement agreement reached following the mediation's conclusion for the limited purpose of describing events following the mediation's conclusion.Adopted Dec. 27, 1990, eff. 7/1/1991; amended Dec. 21, 2021, eff. 7/1/2022.