Cal. Rules of Court, rule 3.858 · Article 2. Rules of Conduct for Mediators in Court-Connected Mediation Programs for Civil Cases
Marketing
Text — As posted by the Judicial Council of California (read October 22, 2026)
(a) Truthfulness
A mediator must be truthful and accurate in marketing his or her mediation services. A mediator is responsible for ensuring that both his or her own marketing activities and any marketing activities carried out on his or her behalf by others comply with this rule.
(b) Representations concerning court approval
A mediator may indicate in his or her marketing materials that he or she is a member of a particular court's panel or list but, unless specifically permitted by the court, must not indicate that he or she is approved, endorsed, certified, or licensed by the court.
(c) Promises, guarantees, and implications of favoritism
In marketing his or her mediation services, a mediator must not:
(1) Promise or guarantee results; or
(2) Make any statement that directly or indirectly implies bias in favor of one party or participant over another.
(d) Solicitation of business
A mediator must not solicit business from a participant in a mediation proceeding while that mediation is pending.
Notes and commentary — not rule text
History
Rule 3.858 renumbered effective January 1, 2007; adopted as rule 1620.8 effective January 1, 2003.
Advisory Committee Comment
Subdivision (d). This rule is not intended to prohibit a mediator from accepting other employment from a participant while a mediation is pending, provided that there was no express solicitation of this business by the mediator and that accepting that employment does not contravene any other provision of these rules, including the obligations to maintain impartiality, confidentiality, and the integrity of the process. If other employment is accepted from a participant while a mediation is pending, however, the mediator may be required to disclose this to the parties under rule 3.855.
This rule also is not intended to prohibit a mediator from engaging in general marketing activities. General marketing activities include, but are not limited to, running an advertisement in a newspaper and sending out a general mailing (either of which may be directed to a particular industry or market).
Source of truth
- Edition
- As posted by the Judicial Council of California (read October 22, 2026)
- Official file
- https://courts.ca.gov/cms/rules/index/three/rule3_858
- Text hash
- sha256 6c4c02eddf89cb5de4a5797274b8f5fb7515ae85e0122fca518f43193df42904
- Composed by
- compose_crc.py 2026-10-22: the Judicial Council's rule pages read paragraph by paragraph; verify_crc.py's second reading of the Council's per-title PDFs finds every paragraph
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