How Not to Mediate

In Williams v. Rent 2 Own Trailers, LLC, the Fifth Circuit held that the defendants in a lease dispute waived any protection by a provision requiring that any controversy “shall be settled first by good faith mediation” within 30 days after notice of the dispute.

The Court credited the complaint’s allegation that the plaintiff gave notice on June 15, 2023, and emphasized that the defendants neither sought mediation during the ensuing 30 days nor pursued it afterward. Instead, they waited until after suit was filed and invoked the clause as a barrier to litigation rather than as a genuine settlement mechanism. The Court also noted the defendants’ later litigation conduct, including their failure to request mediation after acknowledging in a case management plan that court or magistrate mediation could be an effective dispute-resolution technique. No. 25-20352, Jun. 18, 2026.