Mediation/Expenses: Trial Court in Its Discretion May Award Successful Litigants Their Share of the Cost of Unsuccessful Court-Ordered, Privately Conducted Mediation

 

The Mediation Was Reasonably Necessary to the Conduct of the Litigation

     An award of costs for mediation is not statutorily proscribed, and costs may be awarded in the court’s discretion so long as they re “reasonably necessary to the conduct of the litigation rather than merely convenient or beneficial to its preparation.” Gibson v. Bobroff, 49 Cal.App.4th 1202 (1996); Cal. Code Civ. Proc. section 1033.5, subd. (c)(4).