Cal. Rules of Court, rule 3.896 · Chapter 4. Civil Action Mediation Program Rules
Coordination with Trial Court Delay Reduction Act
Text — As posted by the Judicial Council of California (read October 22, 2026)
(a) Effect of mediation on time standards
Submission of an action to mediation under the rules in this chapter does not affect time periods specified in the Trial Court Delay Reduction Act (Gov. Code, § 68600 et seq.), except as provided in this rule.
(b) Exception to delay reduction time standards
On written stipulation of the parties filed with the court, the court may order an exception of up to 90 days to the delay reduction time standards to permit mediation of an action. The court must coordinate the timing of the exception period with its delay reduction calendar.
(c) Time for completion of mediation
Mediation must be completed within 60 days of a reference to a mediator, but that period may be extended by the court for up to 30 days on a showing of good cause.
(d) Restraint in discovery
The parties should exercise restraint in discovery while a case is in mediation. In appropriate cases to accommodate that objective, the court may issue a protective order under Code of Civil Procedure section 2017(c) and related provisions.
Notes and commentary — not rule text
History
(Subd (a) amended effective January 1, 2007.)
(Subd (b) amended effective January 1, 2007.)
(Subd (c) amended and lettered effective January 1, 2007; adopted as part of subd (b) effective March 1, 1994.)
(Subd (d) amended and lettered effective January 1, 2007; adopted as part of subd (b) effective March 1, 1994.)
Rule 3.896 renumbered effective July 1, 2009; adopted as rule 1637 effective March 1, 1994; previously amended and renumbered as rule 3.876 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_896
- Text hash
- sha256 fc2dc1be2f72ee92c1cdff71cce4246af1258d33880a2c2ff6a484e4858efdca
- 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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Government Code
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.