Litigation
Cal. Litig. VOLUME 38, ISSUE 1, MAY 2025
Content
- Ai In Criminal Cases In 2025: Use of Facial Recognition Technology
- Caci 1805: a Comedy of Errors
- California Gun Violence Restraining Order Blueprint
- Chair's Column
- Editor's Foreword: a Supra-eme Farewell
- How To Improve (And Not Blow!) Your Chances For Obtaining Appellate Writ Relief
- Inside This Issue
- Interview With Magistrate Judge Michelle M. Pettit
- Litigating Sex Trafficking Cases Involving Online Platforms: Strategies and Considerations For Advocacy On Behalf of Survivors
- Motions In Limine: the Right To a Fair Trial
- PAST SECTION CHAIRS & EDITORS-IN-CHIEF
- Psych Records In Emotional Distress Cases: Where We Went Wrong and How To Fix It
- SECTION OFFICERS & EDITORIAL BOARD
- Success In Trial: the Work After the Courtroom Closes
- Table of Contents
- Settlement Conferences V. Mediations: a Distinction Without a Purpose?
SETTLEMENT CONFERENCES V. MEDIATIONS: A DISTINCTION WITHOUT A PURPOSE?
Written by John Derrick
Question: When is an organized effort by a neutral person to settle a case — with parties and lawyers present — not a mediation?
Answer: When it is a settlement conference.
Many lawyers do not focus on the difference. And, in most cases, it ends up not mattering. But there is a key distinction: Settlement conferences — or mandatory settlement conferences (MSCs) — have less robust confidentiality protection than mediations.