A funny thing happened on April 1, 2020. After over 30 years and 7,500 cases as an in person, high-touch mediator, I grudgingly became, out of necessity born by COVID-19, a virtual,  online mediator. The first month was admittedly a very rocky one for me. I worried about my ability  to handle the very easy technology and that I might accidentally bump the participants off the  platform. I also hated to see myself on the screen. Initially, I felt, albeit incorrectly, that this made  me the center of attention – something I have always felt is the opposite of the mediator’s role.  Today, over 300 virtual mediations later, I have come to the very surprising conclusion that even  post-COVID virtual mediation will remain the dominant form of mediation. Certainly, in-person  mediations will continue in appropriate instances. The impressive benefits of virtual mediation,  which I will describe in detail below, will usher in a virtual renaissance in the modern mediation  movement, which had become static and was in dire need of an infusion of new energy and  creative thought. My prediction is that virtual mediation will expand the reach of mediation, making it more accessible, allowing mediation to be more fully part of the public domain, and provide  mediators with an array of new tools to do their work more effectively. 

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