§ 1775.7.Time Periods Specified In Chapter 1.5 Not Suspended; Computing Five-Year Period Specified In Section 583.310
Title 11.6. Civil Action Mediation · Enacted 1993 · no amendments on record · Last verified July 29, 2026
Full Text of § 1775.7
Plain-English Summary
Submitting an action to mediation doesn't, as a general matter, stop the deadlines Chapter 1.5 of Title 8 of Part 2 imposes for bringing a case to trial. This section carves out one narrow exception to that rule so mediation can't quietly run out a plaintiff's clock.
If a case is still in mediation, or gets submitted to mediation, more than four years and six months after the plaintiff filed it, the time from that four-and-a-half-year mark until a mediator files a statement of nonagreement under Section 1775.9 doesn't count toward the five-year period Section 583.310 sets for mandatory dismissal. That gap protects a case that lingers in mediation late in its life from being dismissed only because mediation ate up the time the plaintiff needed to get to trial.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does mediation generally pause the deadline for bringing a case to trial?
No. Section 1775.7 states that submission to mediation does not suspend those time periods, except as this section itself provides.
When does mediation time get excluded from the five-year dismissal period?
When a case is or remains in mediation more than four years and six months after filing; the time from then until a statement of nonagreement is filed is excluded.
What section sets the five-year dismissal deadline this section affects?
Section 583.310, part of the mandatory dismissal scheme in Chapter 1.5 of Title 8 of Part 2.
Amendment History
Added by Stats. 1993, Ch. 1261, Sec. 4. Effective January 1, 1994.