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Like many—if not most—federal district courts, both the U.S. District Courts for the Southern and Eastern Districts of New York (SDNY and EDNY, respectively) local court rules authorize any judge of the court, district court or magistrate judge to order the parties in any civil matter to explore resolution by mediation at any stage of the litigation without their consent. See SDNY Loc.Civ.R. 83.9(e)(3); EDNY Loc.Civ.R 83.8(b)(1).
Although the power to compel mediation is not expressly found in the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure (Fed.R.Civ.P.), such orders are consistent with Fed.R.Civ.P. 16(a)(5) (court may order parties to pretrial conference for, among other things, “facilitating settlement”) and the inherent power of a court to control its docket and manage cases efficiently. Fed.R.Civ.P. 1.
