Industrial Commission’s Revised Mediation
and Neutral Evaluation Rules
Effective June 1, 2000
On April 6, 2000 the North Carolina Industrial Commission adopted the revised Rules For Mediated Settlement And Neutral Evaluation Conferences. The revised rules were the subject of a 30-day comment period and a public hearing held on March 30, 2000, and are effective as of June 1, 2000 for all cases ordered into mediation on or after that date. There are three sets of revisions to the rules that were previously in effect.
First, revisions to Rule 4 clarify the procedure for obtaining the attendance of an attorney, party or insurance carrier representative in a pending case at a mediated settlement conference conducted in a related case, regardless of the forum in which the related case is pending. The Dispute Resolution Commission has recommended that the Supreme Court adopt a similar rule for the Superior Court program.
Second, revisions to Rule 4 also clarify that, in the absence of an order by the Commission, a mediator may allow a person to attend a mediated settlement conference by telephone only with the consent of the parties.
Third, in Rule 7 the rates for the per case administrative fee, hourly mediation fee, and fee for the postponement of a conference within four (4) to seven (7) days of the conference in appointed cases were all increased to $125.00. These increased fees will be identical to the fees recently adopted in the Superior Court and District Court mediation programs. The fee for the postponement of a conference within three (3) days of a conference in I.C. appointed cases was increased from $200.00 to $225.00, which is slightly less than the postponement fee in the amount of $250.00 recently adopted in the Superior Court and District Court mediation programs.
The revised I.C. rules are posted in the mediation section of the Commission’s home page, which is located at www.comp.state.nc.us. If there are any questions about the revised rules, you can contact me by e-mail at SCHAFERJ@ind.commerce.state.nc.us, or by telephone at (919) 715-2791.
Note: John Schafer is a Deputy Commissioner and the Dispute Resolution Coordinator for the N.C. Industrial Commission.
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N.C. Industrial Commission · Mediation Section · 4342 Mail Service Center · Raleigh, NC 27699-4342