Our program does not offer mediation by itself. To receive mediation services through the State Bar, your fee dispute must be eligible for fee arbitration through the State Bar, and the dispute will proceed to mediation first if all parties agree in writing to mediate.

The State Bar’s Fee Mediation Program is an informal, confidential, and lower-cost forum for resolving fee disputes between attorneys and their clients. Prior to proceeding with arbitration, parties can agree to have a neutral third party help them to settle their fee dispute.

Both the attorney and the client must agree to mediation—it is a voluntary process.

If the dispute is eligible to be filed with the State Bar for fee arbitration, you will have the option of agreeing to mediation as part of the request for arbitration. Some local bars also offer fee mediation, but most local programs only offer fee arbitration.

When you complete the Request for Arbitration with the State Bar, you will be asked to indicate whether you are interested in mediating the fee dispute. Once your request is accepted, including receipt of payment of the applicable fee arbitration filing fee, the State Bar will serve your request to the opposing party. As part of the opposing party’s written reply to the request, they will indicate whether they agree to mediate the fee dispute prior to arbitration.

If both parties agree to mediation, a mediator will be assigned to help you and attorney try to reach a settlement of your dispute, and you will receive further instructions at that time.

The decision to agree to mediate is entirely up to you, but the attorney will also have to agree in order for the mediation to occur.

Mediations will take place by videoconference. Usually, the parties are in separate areas to start but may be brought together later in the process. The mediator will typically meet separately with one party, and then the other, to understand their perspectives and to identify areas of potential agreement. This “shuttle diplomacy” will take place until an agreement is reached, or until it is clear to the mediator that it is not possible for the parties to reach an agreement. If an agreement is reached, it will be memorialized in a writing called a settlement agreement.

You may be represented by an attorney, but it is not required. You can arrange for an interpreter to attend the mediation with you.

The mediation is confidential. This means that nothing said in a mediation can be used as evidence in any later proceeding by any party at the mediation.

Yes. Mediation is voluntary and either side can decline to mediate. All parties must agree for a mediation to go forward.

For disputes filed with the State Bar, simply check the box agreeing to mediate on the request for fee arbitration form. Some local bar associations offer fee mediation in addition to fee arbitration. Find local fee arbitration programs.

If you are seeking a refund of attorney’s fees that you have already paid, you may request fee mediation as a preliminary option along with arbitration as long as you are still within the legal time limit for filing a lawsuit about the fee dispute. To preserve your right to arbitrate, and to potentially mediate a fee dispute, you should file a request for arbitration promptly.

No. The mediator will not decide any issues related to attorney misconduct and/or malpractice and has no authority to make any determinations regarding the attorney’s conduct or to discipline attorneys for professional misconduct.

If you wish to file a disciplinary complaint with the State Bar of California about your attorney’s conduct, you may do so online. Please keep in mind that a discipline complaint and a request to arbitrate and mediate a fee dispute are separate matters. Filing a complaint may result in disciplinary action against the attorney; however, the result may or may not require the attorney to refund fees.

To help you decide whether to file a complaint, visit the Want to File a Complaint webpage.

If you think you have a separate claim for legal malpractice, you should seek legal counsel.

If you received a Notice of Client’s Right to Fee Arbitration form from the attorney, you have 30 days from the date you received it to submit your arbitration request form to the program. You must also submit your arbitration request if you first wish to mediate the fee dispute.

If you do not file the request form within 30 days of receiving the notice, you will lose your right to arbitrate your fee dispute. A telephone call or letter to the program requesting arbitration will not protect that right. You must be sure that the request form is complete and submitted with any required filing fee.

If the attorney has already filed a lawsuit against you for unpaid fees, you may elect either to respond to the lawsuit or request fee arbitration. If you file a response to the lawsuit, you will lose your right to arbitrate the fee dispute. If you request arbitration, the lawsuit will be stayed, but you should file the appropriate notice of automatic stay with the court. To preserve your right to arbitrate, you should file a request for arbitration promptly.

Your request for mediation is part of the State Bar request for arbitration, so it will follow the same timelines listed above.