Rule 17-302 - General Procedures and Requirements(a) Authority to Order ADR. Except as provided in sections (b) and (c) of this Rule and Rule 17-303, the court, on or before the day of a scheduled trial, may order a party and the party's attorney to participate in one non-fee-for-service mediation or one non-fee-for-service settlement conference. Committee note: Under this Rule, an order of referral to ADR may be entered regardless of whether a party is represented by an attorney. This Rule does not preclude the court from offering an additional ADR upon request of the parties.
(b) When Referral Prohibited. The court may not enter an order of referral to ADR in an action for a protective order under Code, Family Law Article, Title 4, Subtitle 5, Domestic Violence.(c) Objection by Party(1)Notice of Right to Object. If, on the day of a scheduled trial, an order of referral is contemplated or entered by the court, the court shall inform the parties that they have a right to object to the referral at that time. If a written order of referral is entered and served on the parties prior to the date of the scheduled trial, the order shall inform the parties that they have a right to object to a referral and state a reasonable time and method by which the objection may be made.(2)Consideration of Objection.(A) If a party objects to a referral, the court shall give the party a reasonable opportunity to explain the basis of the objection and give fair and prompt consideration to it.(B) If the basis of the objection is that the parties previously engaged in good faith in an ADR process that did not succeed and the court finds that to be true, the court may offer the opportunity for, but may not require, participation in a new court-referred mediation or settlement conference.Adopted Nov. 1, 2012, eff. 1/1/2013.