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DERICE v. S.D. WARREN CO.4/29/1997
h pre-1993 injuries. P.L. 1991, ch. 885, § A-10; L.D. 2464, Statement of Fact (115th Legis. 1991); Legis.Rec. H-56-57 (115th Legis. 3rd Spec. Sess. 1992). The informal conference procedure was initially enacted in 1983 as part of the "early pay system." P.L. 1983, ch. 479. The purpose of the early pay system was to encourage informal resolution of claims without the involvement of attorneys. Stickles v. United Parcel Serv., 554 A.2d 1176, 1179 (Me. 1989). The early pay system also contained safeguards to protect employees who are encouraged by the Act to forego legal counsel. Wentworth v. Manpower Temp. Servs., 589 A.2d 934, 938 (Me. 1991). One of those safeguards was the rule of former section 110 requiring the payment of pre-conference fees in cases in which the employer is represented at the conference by counsel. L.D. 1322, Statement of Fact (111th Legis. 1983). The clear purpose of the rule was to encourage the parties to get together informally without lawyers to enter into an informal, non-binding discussion of the issues, and to equalize the playing field between employee and employer when the employer elects to be represented by counsel.
[ 6] Mediation, although not identical in all respects to the former informal conference, performs the same general purpose of encouraging early resolution of claims. Bureau v. Staffing Network, Inc., 678 A.2d 583, 590 (Me. 1996) (mediation is intended to "replace litigation whenever possible"). Like the informal conference, mediation is triggered by "the filing of a notice of controversy or other indication of controversy." 39-A M.R.S.A. § 313(1); 39 M.R.S.A. § 94-B(1). Unlike the informal conference, mediation is mandatory and an agreement reached at mediation is binding on the parties. Id. Although the early pay system was repealed with title 39, we discern no evidence of a legislative intent to alter the balance between employers and employees established by the former Act regarding attorney fees for cases involving pre-1993 injuries. The Legislature, cognizant of the differences between mediation and informal conferences, enacted section 325(5) to trigger the deferral of the obligation to pay fees from "the date of mediation," instead of "one week after informal conference" as required pursuant to former section 110, in cases in which the employer is not represented by counsel at the mediation.
The entry is:
Decisions of the
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