Key legal question
Whether the contractual clause required prior private mediation and deprived the state courts of jurisdiction
Extracted holding
The clause was not an arbitration agreement and did not exclude state court jurisdiction; in any event the appellant was precluded by good faith from relying on it.
Extracted reasoning
The contract provided only for an out-of-court mediation before the president of the medical association. The appellant did not timely invoke that clause in the proceedings and acted inconsistently by only later challenging jurisdiction.