Who knew Zoom mediation would be just as successful as In-Person mediation? Just before March of 2020 I would have told you that getting attorneys to agree to any form of remote mediations was going to be near impossible. Then COVID hits and suddenly Zoom mediation is everywhere. It is now April of 2023 and Zoom mediations are still happening everywhere.
While some mediators (myself included) still do In-Person mediations, I have noticed that about 95% of my practice is via Zoom. This has allowed me to mediate cases in counties hours away from me whereas before Zoom mediation I would not have even considered it due to the drive time.
Zoom mediations also help attorneys. In the past attorneys would have to plan travel time into their schedule. They might have had a mediation that morning on one side of town and have to be at another one that afternoon on the other side of town. That just wasn’t realistic. Now with Zoom, the attorney likely does not even have to leave their office and is much more likely to be able to attend both mediations.
The parties themselves also enjoy Zoom mediations. When mediations were In-person the parties had to take off most of the day of work due to travel time. A good portion of the parties in cases still work from home so they can get on Zoom easily and participate in mediation without having to leave. Those with children can still be home when their kids get out of school. During periods when the mediator is speaking to the other party they can even still work.
The best part about Zoom mediation, the settlement rate is about the same as In-person mediation. You don’t sacrifice not settling for the convenience of Zoom. Want to get started? Click the link below.