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The pandemic has brought on many changes, including a complete reversal in the Dispute Resolution Commission’s rules on remote mediation.  Prior to June 10, 2020, physical attendance at mediation was mandatory and mediations could be conducted remotely only with the consent of all parties and the mediator.  Effective June 10th, the rules changed and all court-ordered mediations under a DRC program shall be conducted remotely unless the mediator, all parties, and any other persons required to attend agree to waive the requirement to conduct a remote mediation, and comply with all federal, state and local safety guidelines that have been issued, they may conduct the mediation in person.  This shift — at least with respect to the rules — is unlikely to be permanent.  A return to “normal” is also unlikely. This article is about a possible paradigm change in mediation that combines the lessons learned from On-line Dispute Resolution (“ODR”)

Life has changed at a blistering pace as a result of COVID-19.  The courts are essentially shutdown and deadlines have been extended.  Social distancing and sheltering in place as well as travel restrictions obviously impact scheduled mediations and scheduling mediations. On March 17, 2020, the North Carolina Dispute Resolution Commission issued the following statement: “all mediations under a DRC program shall be conducted remotely, if all parties agree. Rule 4 of the MSC and FFS Rules provide a mediation may be conducted via electronic means with the agreement of all parties.  If all parties fail to provide their consent to conduct mediation via electronic means, the matter shall be rescheduled after April 12, 2020.” I have been conducting virtual meetings for several years using the Zoom platform.  Although using it for mediations is new for me, Zoom is perfectly designed for remote or virtual mediations.  The platform allows for a general