Being in the legal profession for going on forty years now, I thought I had seen it all in my civil litigation practice. I have picked three juries in a week, and I have picked three juries in a half-decade.
I have gone through workers compensation reform, tort reform, court reform, and just about any other reform imaginable, but one part of my practice had gone largely unchanged since I first started performing them in 1989: MEDIATIONS.

Below are the three biggest benefits of Zoom (virtual) mediations.

Benefit #1: Convenience: Who hasn’t wanted to participate in a mediation while wearing pajama pants in his or her own living room?

Benefit #2: Cost: Along those same lines, physically coming to a mediation often comes with great cost, both in money and in time, for parties.

Benefit #3: Comfort: Not all office chairs are created equal. I have had people attend Zoom mediations while sitting in recliners.

On the flip side, not all of the changes we have noticed have been good. Here are the biggest downfalls of Zoom (virtual) mediations.

Downfall #1: The Human Element: Being a mediator requires a much different skillset that being a litigator, and remote mediations have demonstrated how important having actual human interaction can be.

Downfall #2: Distractions: When individuals are physically present for a mediation, there is a sense of focus.

Downfall #3: Technical Difficulties: While most attorneys and I have gotten much savvier as to the ways of Zoom in the past year, there is always a chance of some sort of technical issue.

A little over a year in, I think we all realize that Zoom mediations are on the table for the foreseeable future. The question will be how large their role will be.

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