Cal. Rules of Court, rule 3.891 · Chapter 4. Civil Action Mediation Program Rules
Actions subject to mediation
Text — As posted by the Judicial Council of California (read October 22, 2026)
(a) Actions that may be submitted to mediation
The following actions may be submitted to mediation under these provisions:
(1) By court order
Any action in which the amount in controversy, independent of the merits of liability, defenses, or comparative negligence, does not exceed $50,000 for each plaintiff. The court must determine the amount in controversy under Code of Civil Procedure section 1775.5. Determinations to send a case to mediation must be made by the court after consideration of the expressed views of the parties on the amenability of the case to mediation. The court must not require the parties or their counsel to personally appear in court for a conference held solely to determine whether to send their case to mediation.
(2) By stipulation
Any other action, regardless of the amount of controversy, in which all parties stipulate to such mediation. The stipulation must be filed not later than 90 days before trial unless the court permits a later time.
(b) Case-by-case determination
Amenability of a particular action for mediation must be determined on a case-by-case basis, rather than categorically.
Notes and commentary — not rule text
History
(Subd (a) amended effective January 1, 2007.)
(Subd (b) amended effective January 1, 2007.)
Rule 3.891 renumbered effective July 1, 2009; adopted as rule 1631 effective March 1, 1994; previously amended and renumbered as rule 3.871 effective January 1, 2007.
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_891
- Text hash
- sha256 d9cb48ecf7318e46ce52a4c8cac6563a4976c3b19724b9b3e5c10407897cd1e3
- 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
This rule cites
Provisions in this library that the text above cites, as it prints each citation. A range cited as “ss. 61.13-61.16” links its first and last provisions.
Code of Civil Procedure
Procedural information only. Not legal advice and not a substitute for the advice of an attorney. Confirm the current text with the official publisher before relying on it.