LD: Do you think we’re seeing the wave of the future here?
JK: Yes. Online mediation is here to stay. Or at least it’s not about to disappear. Online mediation will come to be considered in every case, just as face-to-face mediation came to be considered in every case 25 years ago.
But online mediation will not become a one-size-fits-all solution. Indeed, nothing in mediation should be one-size-fits-all. Lawyers will have to decide on a case-by-case basis whether a particular mediation should proceed face-to-face or online.
The cost-saving and other pluses of online mediation will have to be balanced against the minuses, such as the sometimes awkward and stilted nature of online communications. Every case will present its own unique challenges, and its own unique solution.
