| (a) Except as provided in subsections (c) and (d) of
this section, a communication relating to the subject matter made
by a participant in an Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) procedure,
whether before or after the institution of formal ADR proceedings,
is confidential, is not subject to disclosure, and may not be used
as evidence in any further proceeding.
(b) Any notes or record made of an ADR procedure are
confidential, and participants, including the mediator, may not be
required to testify in any proceedings relating to or arising out
of the matter in dispute or be subject to process requiring disclosure
of confidential information or data relating to or arising out of
the matter in dispute.
(c) An oral communication or written material used
in or made a part of an ADR procedure is admissible or discoverable
only if it is admissible or discoverable independent of the procedure.
(d) If this section conflicts with other legal requirements
for disclosure of communications or materials, the issue of confidentiality
may be presented to the judge to determine, in camera, whether the
facts, circumstances, and context of the communications or materials
sought to be disclosed warrant a protective order or whether the communications
or materials are subject to disclosure.
(e) All communications in a mediation between parties
and between each party and the mediator are confidential. No shared
information will be given to the other party unless the party sharing
the information explicitly gives the mediator permission to do so.
Material provided to the mediator will not be provided to other parties
and will not be filed or become part of the contested case record.
All notes taken during the mediation conference will be destroyed
at the end of the process.
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