The Vermont Statutes Online
The Statutes below include the actions of the 2025 session of the General Assembly.
NOTE: The Vermont Statutes Online is an unofficial copy of the Vermont Statutes Annotated that is provided as a convenience.
(Cite as: 12 V.S.A. § 5714)
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§ 5714. Scope
(a) Except as otherwise provided in subsection (b) or (c) of this section, this chapter
applies to a mediation in which:
(1) the parties are required to mediate by statute or court or administrative agency rule,
or referred to mediation by a court, administrative agency, or arbitrator;
(2) the parties and the mediator agree to mediate in a record that demonstrates an expectation
that mediation communications will be privileged against disclosure; or
(3) the parties utilize as a mediator a person that holds himself or herself out as providing
mediation services.
(b) This chapter does not apply to a mediation:
(1) relating to the establishment, negotiation, administration, or termination of a collective
bargaining relationship;
(2) relating to a dispute that is pending under or is part of the processes established
by a collective bargaining agreement, except that this chapter applies to a mediation
arising out of such a dispute that has been filed with a court or with a public agency
other than the federal Mediation and Conciliation Service or the Vermont Labor Relations
Board;
(3) conducted under the auspices of a primary or secondary school where all the parties
are students, or under the auspices of a correctional institution for youths where
all the parties are residents of that institution; or
(4) conducted by a judge who might make a ruling on the case.
(c) If the parties agree in advance that all or part of a mediation is not privileged,
the privileges under sections 5715 through 5717 of this title do not apply to the mediation or part agreed upon. The agreement must be in a signed
record or reflected in the record of a proceeding. However, sections 5715 through 5717 of this title apply to a mediation communication made by a person who has not received actual notice
of the agreement before the communication is made. (Added 2005, No. 126 (Adj. Sess.), § 1.)