Covid – 19 appears to be a virus that is not to be trifled with.
As a mediator, I come into direct contact with MANY people. I have people of all types walk through my doors. And although we use a lot of hand sanitizer and Clorox, I’m not sure that’s enough.
I think it’s necessary that we all do our part to keep ourselves safe and, of particular importance, to keep our friends and family safe who may be susceptible to more severe outcomes.
Necessity is the mother of invention
So, I’m putting into place video conferencing mediation capabilities. I have a lot of mediations coming up and I think we all would prefer to move forward. But, we need to respect that some people may want to avoid the contact.
So, here’s how I envision this working. If you are on the mediation calendar and want to do video conferencing, shoot me an email and I will send you the information prior to the mediation. If you want to get on the calendar for a mediation, click the link.
Most mediations are two party mediations. So, I have set up accounts on two different video conferencing providers. One party will be on one provider. The other party will be on the other provider. This will protect the confidentiality of the communication.
You can access these providers through your computer if you have a webcam, through your ipad, or through your smart phone. If you’re on a tablet or a smart phone, it’s as simple as downloading an app.
You can have your clients come to your office if you like, or and your clients will be able to communicate freely. I would encourage you to tell your clients to avoid having kids around, if at all possible. And avoid distractions (such as TV).
During the mediation, I will literally switch back and forth from conference to conference to try and resolve your case. If there are documents that need to be viewed, both service providers allow for the sharing of documents.
Of course, we can utilize email as well.
If we reach an agreement, I will email a mediated settlement agreement to the parties via a program called DocHub. This program is an electronic signature program.
There will be kinks. There will be hiccups. We’ll get through it though.