TITLE 7

SPECIAL PROCEEDINGS

CHAPTER 15

SMALL LAWSUIT RESOLUTION ACT

7-1505.  Qualifications, appointment and compensation of evaluators. (1) Any individual desiring to be on a list of private civil litigation evaluators under this chapter shall submit a request to the supreme court identifying each county in which the individual wishes to serve. The task of acting as an evaluator under this chapter shall be a service to the judiciary and the legal profession. The legislature encourages members of the bar to accept up to two (2) appointments under this chapter on a pro bono basis each year.

(2)  To be listed as a private civil litigation evaluator, a person must currently be an active member of the Idaho state bar association and have had such membership for a minimum of seven (7) years or be a retired or senior judge. To the extent it deems them necessary, the supreme court may prescribe by rule additional qualifications for civil litigation evaluators in some or all cases with the purpose of providing the largest pool of individuals with the knowledge and experience to fairly determine claims under this chapter at minimal or no cost to litigants.

(3)  Upon appointment in each case, the evaluator must sign an oath to fulfill the duties of the office, including the impartial, unbiased and timely discharge of those duties. He must also affirmatively state that he has no conflict of interest or, in the alternative, make a written disclosure of any conflict of interest to the parties, which they may waive by filing a written consent with the evaluator. Challenges to the service of an evaluator shall be made by motion to the trial court and shall be heard expeditiously. Evaluators may decline an appointment. The trial court may also release evaluators from an appointment for good cause. If an evaluator declines or is released from service, a new list shall be requested from the clerk for selection of an evaluator.

(4)  Evaluators shall submit their rates of hourly compensation, if any, to the supreme court when submitting their request to be on the list of civil litigation evaluators. The clerk shall include the rate of hourly compensation, if any, for each evaluator in the list of names submitted to the parties. The parties shall each pay an equal portion of a private evaluator’s fee if any is charged as well as an equal portion of any actual costs incurred by the private evaluator. Individuals who wish to serve as private civil litigation evaluators under this chapter other than on a pro bono basis shall agree to serve as an evaluator in exchange for a fee not to exceed one thousand dollars ($1,000) unless the parties agree otherwise. Provided however, sitting or senior judges appointed as evaluators by the supreme court or administrative judge as part of their judicial service shall not be compensated by the parties. Retired or senior judges selected by the parties from the roster of private civil litigation evaluators maintained by the supreme court through the administrative director of the courts shall be compensated by the parties in accordance with this subsection.

History:

[7-1505, added 2002, ch. 137, sec. 1, p. 383; am. 2003, ch. 29, sec. 3, p. 105.]