Still Zooming A Year Later!

Despite Coronavirus severely curtailing the practice of law in courthouses across the country, lawyers found success settling cases over the past year using readily available technology. Our firm has since conducted some 3,500 mediations by Zoom, GoToMeeting, Microsoft Teams and other platforms, as well as good old-fashioned telephone and text. Few barriers to attending mediation exist when using off-the-shelf equipment and simple apps available for download. Though we utilized these methods at times before the COVID-19 pandemic, it was usually due to the unavailability of a party that remote attendance at a mediation conference happened. Because trial dockets across the country remain in disarray (Florida is a million cases behind), mediation of pending cases provides the soonest means of self-determining an outcome. Online Dispute Resolution (ODR) or virtual solutions can be accessed from the comfort and safety of home. As with traditional mediation, online mediation has allowed the mediator to adapt the process to address the particular needs of parties. Caucus is still possible, ensuring confidentiality, end-to-end encryption and the environment required for candor in negotiation. Of course, nothing beats being in person for a read of the room, but I believe remote attendance is here to stay. Participants appreciate reduced costs and less time expended overall in convening the process. Some cases that would have taken all day seem to resolve even faster online. Whether or not a settlement is reached, much is still learned by parties and counsel through the exercise and most cases settle thereafter still! That's not to say that our 3,000 year tradition of face-to-face mediation won't return as we are vaccinated, but ODR can still be effectively employed in many types of cases going forward.

Happy Zoom Year! Join Us 1/22/21!

Please join us later this month for the first program of our webinar series this year in conjunction with the University of Florida Institute for Dispute Resolution. Along with my longtime colleague and fellow mediator and arbitrator at our mediation firm, Michelle Jernigan, I'll go through current dispute resolution options in Florida as reopening of the courts remains uncertain until Covid-19 no longer presents a significant risk to public health and safety. Meanwhile, mediation, arbitration, nonbinding arbitration and early neutral evaluation are proving to be as effective online as they were in person. Which means of resolution fits the particular fuss? We'll discuss the features of each form of ADR. Join us for this free Webinar, scheduled for Noon on Friday, January 22, 2021, and you'll be eligible for one general CLE credit from The Florida Bar and self-reported CME to the Dispute Resolution Center. Please register here today-- https://register.gotowebinar.com/register/4952883580082820875

Florida Courts Remain Closed

This week, the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Florida acted on the recommendations of a statewide Court Continuity Workgroup, issuing an amended administrative emergency order increasing the list of proceedings state courts will accomplish by remote technology during the Coronavirus pandemic. As such, jury trials in Florida are suspended until July 2nd and other deadlines are pushed back until following the July 4th holiday weekend. The court recognized that in-person jury trials pose a special hazard because they can expose jurors and other courtroom participants to a risk of infection. Future extensions will be considered, if needed. Of interest to followers of this blog, the order especially focuses on increasing the resolution of cases by shifting as many of them as possible into a virtual environment with remote technology, and specifically "Alternative Dispute Resolution proceedings." Case types listed in the order will be held by telephone or other electronic means. Of course, online ADR or ODR has been in full effect since this all started using various existing commercial platforms like WebEx, Zoom and GotoMeeting. Additionally, the Continuity Workgroup that I blogged about last month was asked to submit recommendations as they are developed to guide a phased return to full court operations. The expanded list of essential proceedings adds to earlier efforts to mitigate the impact of Coronavirus while letting courts operate in a way consistent with public safety. Florida’s courts have followed emergency guidelines since a March 13th order, when jury trials were first suspended and actions restricting in-person proceedings were implemented to enforce social distancing. Subsequent orders extended these limits through the end of May, subject to future orders made necessary by the pandemic. Chaired by Orlando Circuit Judge Lisa Munyon, the Court Continuity Workgroup’s mission includes examining the current status of all court proceedings statewide and proposing methods for resolving cases with remote technology and other new procedures that may remain when all this is over. According to the court, the move toward more virtual proceedings is a major historical shift in state court operations, which have relied heavily on in-person hearings in the 175 years Florida has been a state. See more in the latest Administrative Order here-- https://tinyurl.com/yb7jypo9