Newsflash: Mediators Love Online Mediations!

Online mediations (sometimes known as Online Dispute Resolution or ODR) appear to be here to stay. No longer novel, they are now normal. No Zoom fatigue in the ADR/ODR world!

According to a worldwide survey, conducted by Professor James Claxton of Waseda Univeristy in Tokyo, of over 500 mediators across the globe, 43% of mediators said their ODR experience was positive and, better yet, 41% said highly positive!. Almost 84% of mediators across the globe viewed ODR in a good light. Only 5% of those surveyed viewed it negatively.

Of those surveyed, only 4% said that, post-pandemic, they would use ODR less than before the pandemic started. That’s 20 people out of 500!

By and large, though, the respondents felt that ODR did not lead to any significant change in settlement rates. Put another way, a case will settle because of the parties, counsel and mediator — not because of the computer screen or conference room. Further, on the issue of building trust, other research as shown that trust is “no more difficult to develop or maintain online than in person, though it may take some more time to build.”

What’s the takeaway? For practitioners, it’s the ODR is not going away anytime soon. That should help your practice by keeping costs down, thereby making it easier to mediate before a highly qualified professional. And if the mediator you’re considering won’t do ODR, it might be because that mediator is stuck in his/her ways … and why would your want a mediator that’s frozen in time?

For more on the survey, click here.