Originally from Alternatives to the High Cost of Litigation

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The traditional mediation model contemplates a preliminary discussion with counsel to address logistics including setting a mediation date, ensuing submission of mediation statements and key documents to orient the mediator, and ultimately a formal session attended by client representatives kicked off with a plenary joint session potentially followed by private alternating caucuses.

The advent of Zoom mediations necessitated by the pandemic has facilitated that model in virtual form, congregating the participants through a Zoom general session followed by the mediator shuttling between breakout rooms.

As the philosophy and scope of mediation has evolved, however, aspects of this traditional model have often become subject to tailoring or even elimination. For example, threshold logistics are sometimes addressed through emails, by administrative staff, or informal triage calls. See Norman Feit, “To Triage or Not Triage?” 39 Alternatives 41 (March 2021) (available at https://bit.ly/3FzohGJ).