We can start with the proposition that there are many reasons why mediating your divorce is preferable to litigation. First, it is far, far less expensive. Second, you are not in a litigated case where your lawyers have to submit motions and legal filings which are time-consuming and, again, expensive. Third, a divorce is a very personal and sensitive event in your life. Anyone who has sat in a courtroom and heard the most private moments in their marriage discussed in a packed courtroom of other lawyers and parties awaiting their case to be called knows exactly how humiliating those moments can be. Mediation is a more private process. Lastly, mediation is more expedient. Courts in every jurisdiction in this country are backlogged. We live in a litigious society. Litigated cases necessarily move very slowly, usually too slow for clients impatient to resolve their differences.

But how has online mediation changed during the pandemic when we are all isolated and sitting at our computers? In my opinion, it has become an alternative that will not disappear post-Covid. Online divorce mediation requires no particular physical location for parties to meet or incur travel expenses and wastage of time. I have discovered that it is far easier for parties and the mediator to schedule participation at more convenient times. Pre-pandemic I would often place clients in different rooms and shuttle back and forth as the mediation developed. Now, I can employ virtual break-out sessions and share screens and documents as and when the parties deem appropriate.

As a former trial lawyer accustomed to sitting next to my client, focusing my attention on a witness up on the stand, with zoom technology I can presently view everyone’s expressions in real time and pick up on emotional cues. Have there been glitches? Sure, but they are disappearing as we all are growing more familiar with the technology and the process. I believe in the future many parties with matrimonial disputes will seriously consider online mediation in lieu of not only going to court but even meeting in person with the mediator.