§ 154.021.Referral of Pending Disputes for Alternative Dispute Resolution Procedure

The referral power, and it is broader than most people expect.

The court may act on its own motion. No party has to ask, and no party has to agree.

Three destinations are listed. A dispute resolution system established under the 1983 act that Chapter 152 now carries forward, a dispute resolution organization, or a nonjudicial and informally conducted forum for voluntary settlement through an impartial third party.

The third item is the open one. It expressly includes the procedures described in this subchapter, and its language reaches arrangements the subchapter never names.

The court must confer with the parties in choosing the most appropriate procedure. Mediation, a mini-trial and a summary jury trial suit different disputes, and the parties know their case.

Conferring is not consent. Section 154.022 gives a party ten days to object, and the court decides whether the objection has a reasonable basis.

One hard limit closes the section. Except by agreement of the parties, a court may not order mediation in an action subject to the Federal Arbitration Act.

That limit reflects federal preemption. Where the parties contracted for arbitration under the federal act, a state court order routing the case into mediation first would interfere with the bargain the federal statute protects.