Except as otherwise provided in the Mediation Procedures Act [44-7B-1 NMSA 1978] or by applicable judicial court rules, all mediation communications are confidential, and not subject to disclosure and shall not be used as evidence in any proceeding.
History: Laws 2007, ch. 11, § 4.
ANNOTATIONSEffective dates. — Laws 2007, ch, 11, § 7 makes the act effective on July 1, 2007.
Report prepared for use in mediation was a confidential mediation communication. — Where two parties made separate loans to another party to the litigation; the loans were secured by stock in the defendant corporation; at a settlement conference, the lender parties agreed that they were unable to fully evaluate the settlement offer, that additional information was necessary to settlement evaluation, and that they would hire an expert to perform a valuation of the defendant corporation; the appraiser's engagement letter and valuation report stated that the report was prepared for purposes of mediation and was restricted to internal use by the parties' tax and legal advisors; and a second settlement conference was rescheduled to allow the appraiser to complete the valuation report, the valuation report was a confidential mediation communication that could not be disclosed or used at trial. Warner v. Calvert, 2011-NMCA-028, 150 N.M. 333, 258 P.3d 1125.
Nonparty participant may be a witness at trial. — Where two of the parties made separate loans to another party to the litigation; the loans were secured by stock in the defendant corporation; at a settlement conference, the lender parties agreed to hire an expert to prepare a valuation of the defendant corporation to assist them evaluate a settlement offer; the appraiser's engagement letter provided that additional fees would be required if the appraiser testified at trial; and the valuation report was a confidential mediation communication, the district court did not abuse its discretion in appointing the appraiser as a Rule 11-706 NMRA expert witness and although the appraiser was prohibited from testifying about the valuation report, the appraiser could testify about documents underling the valuation report and could prepare a new valuation report. Warner v. Calvert, 2011-NMCA-028, 150 N.M. 333, 258 P.3d 1125.
Confidential court-ordered settlement conference. — Where an uninsured motorist, fleeing from police, struck defendant's unoccupied vehicle, and where plaintiff, defendant's automobile insurer, paid defendant the policy's $10,000 coverage limit for uninsured/underinsured (UM/UIM) property damage, and where defendant thereafter demanded that punitive damages arising from the property damage be paid from his UM/UIM bodily injury coverage even though no one was in the vehicle at the time of the accident and no one sustained any bodily injury, and where, prior to trial, the parties participated in a confidential court-ordered settlement conference, after which plaintiff filed a motion for sanctions against plaintiff claiming that plaintiff did not act in good faith, and where plaintiff filed an unopposed motion to seal defendant's motion for sanctions, the district court erred in denying plaintiff's motion to seal, because this section clearly provides that all mediation communications are confidential, and not subject to disclosure, and shall not be used as evidence in any proceeding. Fred Loya Ins. Co. v. Swiech, 2018-NMCA-022.