More on Secrecy

People often think that a person’s position in mediation, if unreasonable, can be used by the other side to get attorney fees, or increased attorney fees, after the unreasonable person loses at trial. in Matter of Bidwell, 173 Or. App. 288, 294 (Or. Ct. App. 2001) the court held that communications during the mediation could not be used even to show that a party to the mediation was acting unreasonably, and arguably running up the fees. The parties can agree, however, that the communications are not secret.