The orientation session shall be conducted at no cost to the parties. Unless otherwise provided by law, the cost of any subsequent dispute resolution proceeding shall be as agreed to by the parties and the neutral.
§ 8.01-576.7.Costs.
Chapter 20.2. Court-referred Dispute Resolution Proceedings · Last amended 2002 · Last verified July 16, 2026
In one sentenceThe orientation session that a court orders under this chapter always costs the parties nothing, while the price of any dispute resolution proceeding that follows is left to agreement between the parties and the neutral, unless some other law sets the fee instead.
Full Text of § 8.01-576.7
Plain-English Summary
Money should never be the reason someone skips the first step. This section makes the orientation session free, full stop — no fee attaches just because a judge referred the case.
Once the parties decide to move past orientation into mediation or another dispute resolution proceeding, the cost structure changes. From that point forward, what the neutral charges and how the parties split it is a matter of agreement between them, not something the statute fixes. The one caveat is that other law can override this default, so a specific program or statute might set its own fee schedule.
Read alongside the qualifications section, this cost rule explains why the court steps back in when parties cannot agree on a neutral or a fee — the court sets a reasonable fee for an indigent party or when no agreement is reached, precisely because this section leaves pricing to negotiation in the first instance.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does the orientation session cost anything?
No. The orientation session is conducted at no cost to the parties.
Who decides how much a mediator or other neutral charges after orientation?
Unless otherwise provided by law, the cost of any dispute resolution proceeding that follows the orientation session is whatever the parties and the neutral agree to.
Can another statute override the cost rules in this section?
Yes, the section applies “unless otherwise provided by law,” meaning another statute can set a different cost arrangement for a particular proceeding.
What happens if the parties cannot agree on a fee with the neutral?
This section does not answer that directly, but the qualifications section addresses it by letting the court set a reasonable fee when no agreement on payment is reached.
Does this section cover the cost of hiring an attorney to attend?
No, the section addresses only the cost of the orientation session and the subsequent dispute resolution proceeding itself, not attorney fees.
Amendment History
1993, c. 905; 2002, c. 718.
Source & verification. Section text and amendment history are
reproduced verbatim from the Code of Virginia, published by the
Code of Virginia, Virginia Division of Legislative Automated Systems. Last verified July 16, 2026.
· Official source
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