US · rules
D.D.C. LCvR 84.9
Confidentiality
(a) CONFIDENTIAL TREATMENT.
(1) The Court hereby prohibits the mediator, all counsel and parties and any other
persons attending the mediation from disclosing any written or oral
communications made in connection with or during any mediation session.
(2) There shall be no communication between the mediator and the assigned judge
regarding a case that has been referred to mediation. Disputes and complaints of
any kind, the resolution of which may require the disclosure of information
acquired through a mediation, shall not be heard by the assigned judge but shall
be brought to the attention of the Compliance Judge as outlined in LCvR 84.10
below.
(3) Information acquired through mediation shall not be used for any purpose,
including impeachment, in any pending or future proceeding in this or any other
court or forum. Mediators shall not respond to subpoenas or requests for such
information or disclose such information voluntarily. Mediators who are served
with a subpoena or otherwise asked for information about any mediation in which
they have participated shall immediately inform the Director of Dispute
Resolution of the request.
(b) CONFIDENTIALITY AGREEMENT.
The mediator may ask the parties and all persons attending the mediation to sign a
confidentiality agreement on a form provided by the Court, but the confidentiality
requirements of this section apply regardless of whether a confidentiality agreement is
signed.
(c) EXCEPTIONS.
(1) Nothing in this Rule shall be construed to prohibit disclosures to persons not
directly participating in a mediation (such as corporate or government officials)
whose possession of mediation-related information counsel believe to be
necessary to further the progress of the talks in the case; or to help the institution
respond to the mediation program generally. Persons not attending a mediation
who are given information on this "need to know" basis shall also be bound by
this Rule regarding confidentiality.
(2) This Rule shall not be construed to prohibit parties from entering written
agreements resolving some or all of the case or from entering and filing
procedural or factual stipulations based on suggestions or agreements made in
connection with a mediation.
(3) Information which is obtained through discovery or other means outside the
mediation process shall not be rendered inadmissible or non-discoverable because
it is used or presented in mediation.
(4) This Rule does not preclude a report to or an inquiry by the Compliance Judge
pursuant to LCvR 84.10 below regarding a possible violation of these Rules.
(5) Nothing in this Rule shall be construed to prohibit the mediator, counsel or
litigants from discussing, with the Court's ADR staff, the progress of a mediation
or the specific facts and ideas discussed in the course of mediated negotiations.
Such communications are encouraged to permit the staff to monitor the quality of
the mediation services being provided.
(6) This Rule does not preclude dissemination of information about the types of cases
going through the Mediation Program or about overall program results. Generic
information about the program and cases entering mediation is available, and
reports are generated for analysis and evaluation. Individual cases that have been
resolved through mediation may be publicly identified, discussed or brought to
the Court's attention if the parties consent to such a disclosure.
Provenance
- Source
- www.dcd.uscourts.gov
- Retrieved
- 2026-09-18
- Edition
- fed-district-2026-09-18
- Content hash
7ded29b3f2c0243f3bf40fe8134b5a768bb6113c093effefd9b5bcb96e7f0e47
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