§ 1297.394.Rights Or Remedies Not Waived By Submitting to Conciliation

Trying to settle a dispute shouldn't cost a party its underlying legal position if the attempt doesn't pan out. This section makes that guarantee explicit: submitting to conciliation doesn't waive any right or remedy the party would have had if conciliation had never been initiated.

The one exception is self-inflicted: if the conciliation produces a settlement agreement, whatever rights or remedies that agreement itself gives up are gone, because the party agreed to give them up. But short of an actual signed settlement, a party that tries conciliation and comes up empty walks away with its original rights and remedies intact, free to pursue arbitration or litigation as if conciliation had never happened.