Mediation Process - What to Expect at Mediation

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Virtual Mediation--Alternative Dispute Resolution has moved (kicking and screaming) into the virtual world.  My firm has handled over a dozen virtual mediations and arbitrations in the past few weeks and here is what we have learned: -Virtual mediation can work.  During lockdown, with the courts out of commission, attorneys have time to mediate.  You can prep your clients, remotely of course, and write up pre-mediation statements to submit to the Mediator.  One obstacle to mediation is just scheduling the darn thing.  We spend valuable time trying to juggle the crazed schedules many attorneys and parties keep (or at least used to keep pre-pandemic.)  So that obstacle is now gone; we can actually get the mediation on the calendar. -The Process is the same, but different.  Zoom allows for private breakout rooms so we can separate out and have confidential conversations.  It’s not flawless and take...
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Virtual Mediation Technology Glitches

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We are soooooooooo dependent upon our technology during this pandemic. Most of my communication with co-workers and attorney-colleagues is through email and text. Even phone calls with my smart phone (which sometimes seems too smart… like creepy smart) have become complicated when I use my Bluetooth earpiece and it seizes the call whether I want it to or not. At my house, I play music using “Hey Google” and I joke that you need an Engineering degree to turn on the television. Just like the rest of the world, mediation and arbitration have become even more dependent upon technology during the pandemic.   We are mediating and arbitrating using ZOOM , attaching special cameras to our computers and learning all about Breakout Rooms and Chat Boxes. Which is honestly great – I love learning new things and trying them out on unsuspecting victi … uh, I mean attorneys.   But what happens when our tools fail just as we are set to begin using virtual technology pr...
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WHY NEW YEAR’S RESOLUTIONS AND MEDIATIONS FAIL What is your New Year’s Resolution?  Last January I started this blog and resolved to post at least monthly.  I did it (well, except for December, which as a working Mom, is excusable—in fact, I declare that henceforth December is off the table for all deadlines.) Most lawyers and mediators are super swamped during December.  Insurance companies, law firms and others want to close cases before the end of the year—be it for tax purposes, a push from accounting or maybe just to start the year off fresh.  The week before Christmas I had four mediations in five days.  Wow-that’s a lot!  Three of the four settled, so these are great results.  The cases that settled had parties who were open to compromise, knew the facts of their situation and were serious about settling.  But what can we learn from the dispute that did not settle?  Let’s dig dee...
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