§ 1775.5.Amount In Controversy

This is a genuine dual-version section, and the two versions set different rules. Through December 31, 2026, a court can't order a case into mediation at all if the amount in controversy exceeds $50,000. That amount gets calculated the same way Section 1141.16 calculates it for judicial arbitration, without the court weighing in on the merits of liability, defenses, or comparative negligence along the way.

Starting January 1, 2027, a new version takes over and reworks the test into a multi-part checklist. The dollar ceiling rises to $75,000, calculated the same way as before, but that alone won't send a case to mediation. The case also has to already be set for trial, at least one party has to have told the court it's interested in mediating, there can't be any ongoing discovery disputes affecting the case, the parties have to have been notified of their option to stipulate to a mediator of their choosing, and the parties need the ability to mediate remotely if all of them agree to it. If the parties don't stipulate to a mutually agreeable mediator within 15 days of submission, the court appoints one at no cost to the parties, following standards the Judicial Council adopts. The new version also builds in a deadline: mediation has to wrap up, whether by agreement or by a statement of nonagreement, no later than 120 days before trial, and it can't be used to push the trial date back. Either way, the amount-in-controversy figure the parties work out for mediation purposes doesn't count against them later as a concession about what the case is truly worth.