§ 172.203.Conduct of Conciliation

How a conciliation is conducted, described by standards rather than rules.

Three guiding principles are named — objectivity, fairness and justice.

Three considerations follow. The rights and obligations of the parties; the usages of the trade concerned; and the circumstances surrounding the dispute, including any previous practices between the parties.

Trade usage and prior dealings appear again here, as they do for arbitrators in Section 172.102(e), and for the same reason: international commerce runs on practices the parties know.

The conciliator controls the procedure. It may be conducted in the manner the conciliator considers appropriate.

Three factors shape that discretion — the circumstances of the case, the wishes of the parties, and the desirability of a speedy settlement.

Speed is written into the standard, which fits a process chosen to avoid the length of an arbitration.

Other Texas procedural law does not apply. Except as provided by this chapter, a law of this state governing procedure does not apply to a conciliation under this chapter.

That exclusion keeps the process informal in fact. A conciliation is not a proceeding with pleadings and rules.

What remains from the chapter still binds — the disclosure duty, confidentiality, the conflict-of-interest bar and the enforceability provision.