November 7, 2024 – 9:19 am
In a claim not seen often, a party to a mediation asked for sanctions for the other party’s failure to send someone with full settlement authority to the mediation. After Charles Leach died in his Tesla, which crashed and caught fire in 2021, his widow, on behalf of his estate, sued Tesla for wrongful death in a California federal court (Donna Leach v Tesla, U.S. District Court, Northern District of California, 2023). The case went to mediation in September 2024. The lawyers for Mr. Leach’s estate claim that the two sides reached a deal in mediation, only to learn, hours into the mediation, that the Tesla representative, a products liability lawyer, lacked the authority to approve a settlement on his own. At this point, the plaintiff claims, they had already provided Tesla with confidential information. The estate lawyers felt that they had no choice but to breach the settlement agreement. The estate then asked the court to award it $9,600 in legal fees as a sanction against Tesla. They argued that Tesla violated a court order in failing to send someone with full settlement authority, and that they wasted their time going to mediation.
The court ruled yesterday that the estate cannot pursue sanctions.
Michigan’s court rules on mediation require that the attorneys attending a mediation must have the authority necessary to participate fully in the proceeding. MCR 2.410(D)(1). The court rule does not specify penalties for failure to comply. Parties lacking full settlement authority can be a frustration to a mediation, and the threat of sanctions might be one way to address the problem. But there are other ways, including careful preparation beforehand.
October 5, 2024 – 2:32 pm
A former president of the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC), Johnny Hunt, sued the SBC last year in federal court for defamation. This summer, the court (U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Tennessee) ordered the parties into mediation. They reportedly met in mediation for one day last month, on September 19, 2024, but did not reach an agreement. Now the case is headed for trial.
Courts have embraced mediation as a way for parties to settle their differences short of a trial. In contrast with a judge or arbitrator, the mediator has no power to decide the outcome; the mediator instead helps the parties to reach a resolution. The process itself can take many forms. The typical court-ordered mediation of a litigated case is conducted by an attorney-mediator who meets with the parties separately for a day to help them reach a compromise on a dollar figure to settle the case. I suspect that is the process that was used in this case.
A Christian alternative to “litigation mediation” encourages parties to deal with relational as well as substantive issues, and to apply prayer and Scripture so as to attain both resolution and reconciliation. In Christian mediation the mediator typically meets separately with each party, sometimes for hours over several weeks, until both sides are ready for joint session. Christian mediation is offered by several national ministries, including Peacemaker Ministries, the Institute for Christian Conciliation, and Crossroads Resolution Group. One need not file a lawsuit in order to initiate Christian mediation.
Christian mediation is the appropriate process for a conflict among church leaders. Christians are not supposed to sue one another in civil court (I Corinthians 6:1-7), and the financial remedy that Mr. Hunt seeks can be attained in Christian mediation. It also offers the possibility of healing the fractured relationship, which rarely occurs in “litigation mediation” but is important to God (see, e.g., John 13:34-35). I blogged about this case when it was first filed in March 2023 (see my post of March 25, 2023). It’s sad that both sides have continued in litigation instead of resolving it within the church.
It’s not too late for the parties to heed Jesus’ advice to “settle quickly” (Matthew 5:25) before this matter comes to trial.
Christians who do not want to end up in court with other Christians can use Christian conciliation clauses in their contracts, to ensure that any dispute goes through mediation and arbitration rather than litigation. This has been the message of Peacemaker Ministries for decades. We’re happy to see that Telios Law is promoting this concept in its excellent new series on “Preventing and Navigating Internal Church Disputes.” In Part VI, “Preventive Measures,” it observes that conciliation agreements are “an under-used tool in churches …. Conciliation agreements help resolve church disputes in a religious context that aims for reconciliation, rather than costly and divisive litigation.”
The Institute for Christian Conciliation has long endorsed a basic Christian conciliation clause that has been upheld in many a court case. It should be the standard dispute resolution clause in any contract to which Christians and churches are parties.
Reports that recently-terminated Calvin University President Wiebe Boer is suing his former employer bring sadness: another lawsuit among Christians. This dispute could have avoided court altogether if the parties had included in their employment contract a clause to that effect. The Institute for Christian Conciliation has long promoted its contract clause for that reason: it signals parties’ intention to resolve any future disputes privately, within the church. It’s possible that such a dispute resolution clause is in the contract, and Dr. Boer either missed it or believed it did not apply. That would give Calvin a chance to point that out, and the court would likely enforce the clause, directing the parties to resolve their dispute in accordance with the contract clause. In the published cases where courts have had opportunity to evaluate the ICC contract clause, they have consistently enforced it, as indicated on the website page about the clause.
PS – Happy to see a report on June 14, 2024, that the ex-president dropped his lawsuit against Calvin University.
April 16, 2024 – 11:10 am
The bad news — according to a recent survey discussed in an article by David Roach posted yesterday in Christianity Today — is that more pastors are leaving their ministry due to conflict. The good news is that God can bring healing out of conflict, and He is using ministries like Peacemaker Ministries to bring that about. The article leads with the story of a church in California experiencing serious conflict that saw lasting reconciliation after my colleagues from Peacemaker Ministries spent a weekend with them last year.
Peacemaker Ministries has developed a line of resources through our former CEO P. Brian Noble, called “The Path of a Peacemaker,” and God is working through these resources to reconcile relationships on every level, from marriages to workplaces to congregations. This is but one example. I feel justified in touting Peacemaker Ministries because I’m the chair of its board of directors; we have a strong board, and a dynamic, visionary CEO, Laurie Stewart. May God continue to bring peace and healing in His church!
