BILL ANALYSIS Ó AB 2025 Page 1 Date of Hearing: May 25, 2012 ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS Felipe Fuentes, Chair AB 2025 (Gorell) - As Amended: May 10, 2012 Policy Committee: JudiciaryVote:10-0 (Consent) Urgency: No State Mandated Local Program: No Reimbursable: SUMMARY This bill requires the California Law Revision Commission (CLRC) to study and report to the Legislature on the following: 1)The relationship under current law between mediation confidentiality and attorney malpractice and other misconduct, as specified. 2)The availability and propriety of contractual waivers. FISCAL EFFECT Absorbable costs to the commission, which establishes its workload priorities amongst the topics directed for its review by the Legislature. (The commission's proposed budget for 2012-13 totals $666,000, and includes funding for five staff positions.) COMMENTS 1)Background and Purpose . The commission was created in 1953 and was given the responsibility to substantively review California's statutory and case law. The commission seeks to discover deficiencies in existing law and makes related recommendations to the Legislature for needed reforms. The commission may only study matters referred to it by concurrent resolution of the Legislature or through separate legislation such as AB 2025. 2)The commission has developed considerable expertise over many years on the issue of confidentiality in mediation AB 2025 Page 2 proceedings. This bill requires the commission to study and report to the Legislature regarding a specific and complex question that the commission appears not to have considered previously-the relationship between mediation confidentiality and attorney malpractice and other misconduct. The bill is prompted by a recent California Supreme Court decision interpreting current law, and raising questions about the policy implications of that law. There are many concerned stakeholders with strongly held views on all sides, and the commission's process allows for full investigation and deliberation of these technical and complex issues. 3) Related Legislation . ACR 98 (Wagner), pending in Senate Rules, authorizes CLRC to continue its study of 21 topics that the Legislature previously authorized or directed the commission to study, deletes one topic, and adds a new topic. Analysis Prepared by : Chuck Nicol / APPR. / (916) 319-2081