Voluntary Early Civil Mediation Program
Court Mediation Program (information for mediators)

Court Approved Civil Mediation Panels

VOLUNTARY EARLY CIVIL MEDIATION PROGRAM

The Ventura Superior Court’s Voluntary Early Civil Mediation Program is designed to provide litigants with an early opportunity to resolve their dispute before having to make a substantial financial and emotional commitment to the litigation process. Mediation is an opportunity for litigants and their counsel to meet face to face, under the direction of a professional mediator, to discuss settlement options.

The court requires that in any civil case the parties consider voluntary early mediation of their dispute. The parties, or their counsel, if the parties are represented, are required to meet and confer, at least by telephone, to discuss their collective voluntary participation in the Ventura Superior Court Voluntary Early Civil Mediation Program. For those cases in which the parties and their counsel agree to participate in the Ventura Superior Court Voluntary Early Civil Mediation Program, all fast-track deadlines and all discovery other than permitted under Local Rule 24.02 are stayed for a period of 150 days from the date of filing of all defendant’ answers.

The parties or their counsel are required to file with the court the Ventura Superior Court Voluntary Early Civil Mediation Program Questionnaire (VN-183) indicating whether the parties agree to “opt-in” to, or decline to participate in the program. This form is required to be executed by all parties or their counsel and filed at the time of the last defendant’s first appearance.

Unless the parties have formally declined to participate in the Ventura Superior Court Voluntary Early Civil Mediation Program, the parties shall complete and file with the court a Ventura Superior Court Voluntary Early Civil Report (VN-184) , no later than twenty-five (25) days from the filing of the last defendant’s responsive pleading.

The Ventura Superior Court provides to the parties a two-tiered panel of mediators. The two-tiered panel consists of a panel of pro bono mediators and a panel of “party pay” mediators. All mediators on the pro bono panel have agreed to mediate not less than one pro bono case per calendar quarter and the mediation shall not be less than three hours. All mediators on the pro bono panel shall have completed at least twenty-five hours of formal mediation training by a recognized mediation training/education provider, and agree to provide brief review, preparation time and three hours of hearing time to the parties on a pro bono basis and pursuant to such further rules as may be designated for mediators by the Ventura Superior Court.

All mediators on the “party pay” panel will similarly provide three hours of mediation services per case at the rate of $150 per hour to be shared equally by all participating parties. To be eligible to appear on the “party pay” panel, the mediator shall have completed twenty-five hours of formal mediation training and have participated as a mediator in at least twenty-five mediations from any Superior Court with a minimum hearing time of two hours each.

All mediations under this program shall be completed no later than 150 days from the first appearance of the last defendant. At the conclusion of the mediation, the mediator shall file a statement of agreement or non-agreement on a form provided to that mediator by the court. Parties who fail to complete the mediation of their case within 150 days of the first appearance of the last defendant, are subject to monetary sanctions under Local rule 24.09 pursuant to California Code of Procedure Section 575.2.

Parties who “opt-in” to the Ventura Superior Court Voluntary Early Civil Mediation Program are required to act in good faith, including discovery matters. If upon noticed motion the court determines a party has not acted in good faith, the case may be removed from the program and the offending party or attorney sanctioned. While discovery motions within the Voluntary Early Civil Mediation Program are not expressly prohibited, Local Rule 24.02(B) sets the policy of the court for the resolution of such disputes informally by the meet and confer process.

Parties who have agreed to participate in the Ventura Superior Court Voluntary Early Civil Mediation Program may withdraw only upon the filing of an ex-parte application and order approved by the court. (Rule 24.08(A)).

The court may promulgate additional procedural requirements and guidelines for the Ventura Superior Court Voluntary Early Civil Mediation Program, as it deems necessary for the successful implementation of the program. Such further rules and procedural requirements will be timely published by the court on the court’s web page www.ventura.courts.ca.gov and will be made available to counsel at the clerk’s office upon their publication.