Appellate Mediation

The Mississippi Bar is looking at starting an appellate mediation group.  It would be completely voluntary.  This could be beneficial if both parties are willing to talk.  I would expect this to be helpful on personal injury cases where there is the possibility of a new trial being ordered.  On most domestic cases, the party who got the better deal at trial rarely wants to discuss changing anything has been my experience.    A little more information on it is below which the bar sent out today. 

On January 19, 2012, the Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) Section of The Mississippi Bar filed a Petition for Order Authorizing Program for Appellate Mediation. On August 2, 2012, the ADR Section filed an amendment to its petition. The Rules Committee on Civil Practice and Procedure referred the ADR Section’s proposal to the Supreme Court’s Advisory Committee on Rules. After due consideration, the Advisory Committee on Rules has proposed a voluntary appellate mediation pilot program. Follow this link http://courts.ms.gov/rules/rulesforcomment/rulesforcomment.html for the Advisory Committee on Rules’ proposal along with the ADR Section’s petition and amendment. Comments must be filed with the Clerk of the Supreme Court, Gartin Justice Building Post Office Box 249, Jackson MS 39205-0249 by May 2, 2104