Virtual Mediation:

Virtual / remote mediation is conducted remotely, typically using zoom, rather than in a shared physical location. It follows the same principles as in person in-office mediation (voluntary, confidential, and neutral), but use digital tools like zoom to facilitate the mediation process.

Some of the key advantages of virtual mediation are:

1) greater convenience and cost savings for the parties;

2) easier for scheduling mediation across multiple locations and parties;

3) can reduce emotional intensity and stress of some parties; and

4) document sharing and drafting can be conducted faster.

General Setup of Virtual Mediation:

Parties join from separate locations around the world using computers or mobile devices with audio and video capabilities. A link will be provided to the parties to join the mediation.

The parties need to ensure that they have: o Stable internet connections. o Working audio and video. o Are in private environments (no unauthorized listeners or viewers).

That said, virtual mediation usually starts out in the same joint session where I will explain the mediation process, my role to the parties, discuss and confirm confidentiality, and will generally ask each party to present his or her perspective on the dispute without interruption of the other party.

After such joint session, I will normally place the parties in individual virtual breakout rooms to meet privately with each party. These sessions are known as caucuses. These are extremely useful when a dispute is very contentious. Such sessions allow for private candid discussions, exploration of interests and settlement options, and reality testing and negotiation strategy.

I will then move between each virtual breakout room, discussing the other party’s position and relaying any settlement proposals (with permission of the party).

If a settlement is reached, an agreement can drafted electronically where the parties can review it together on their screens and can even electronically sign such agreement. When parties are represented by counsel, sometimes a settlement is memorialized in a Memorandum of Understanding (“MOU”) and then a more formal settlement agreement will be drafted by the counsels after mediation if needed.