A mediation provision in a real estate contract required a party who refused to mediate and then lost in litigation to pay the other party’s attorneys’ fees. A federal appellate court, however, concluded that there must be a request for mediation before there could be a refusal; simply filing the litigation was not sufficient to prove a refusal to mediate. Thus, since the defendant who prevailed in the litigation had not sought to mediate, the plaintiff had not refused and was not responsible for paying defendant’s attorneys’ fees.
Thompson v. Cloud, Nos. 13-1120, 13-1121 (U.S.C.A. 1st Cir., August 20, 2014)
