Mediation and Other ADR During Coronavirus Precautions
Part of our adaptation to the effects of the Coronavirus pandemic has been to move from our long time home at the Resolution Arts and Building in Mid-town Sacramento. We are continuing to provide all of our ADR services to our clients remotely with a full schedule of Mediations, Arbitrations and related services using state-of-the-art video-conference technology (Zoom). This service is provided at no additional cost to our clients.
Zoom is a leading-edge video and telephone technology that simulates the real time face-to-face mediation process (https://zoom.us) .
A Word About Security
We take the security and confidentiality of our mediations and hearings very seriously.
There has been a lot of news and speculation about the security of Zoom video conferences. The reported hackings all involve large group meetings with published schedules.
For our Zoom meetings:
- Each session is given a unique meeting number and password.
- All participants first go to a waiting room and are only connected to the meeting manually by the host on verification of identity.
- All capacity to record a session or chat outside a private breakout room is disabled.
These steps avoid all reported issues with Zoom
Use of the Zoom platform technology is easy, confidential and secure. We will need counsel to provide email addresses for all who will be participating for their side (all attorneys, clients, insurance representatives and other participants) and we will provide an email either directly to all mediation participants or which counsel can forward as necessary before the session with complete instructions and links to access the Zoom platform from any device with Internet access and audio and video capacity including desktop and laptop computers, smart phones, tablets and iPads. Activating the link will take the participants directly to the secure virtual mediation site. Remote participants without this technology can join the session by telephone with numbers we will provide. Click HERE to see a sample email with instructions.
The Zoom platform allows us to organize and assign separate virtual Breakout Rooms for each of the parties so that private caucuses can be held at the outset or during the session. In mediations, no matter where a party´s team members are located at the time of a session, they retain the ability to communicate together privately in their separate virtual Breakout Room. while the Mediator is speaking with another group. The mediator can also join multiple participants together in a virtual Joint Session.
For arbitrations and similar hearings, we set up a main “hearing room” and private rooms where the parties and counsel can meet privately as needed during the day.
We will be available before any session to answer any questions or address concerns from either you or your clients.
We are also conducting Arbitrations, Discovery Referee and other ancillary Alternative Dispute Resolution proceedings using remote access technology. We will consult with you on a case-by-case basis on how to move forward to provide an appropriate forum to you and your clients.
Thank you for your cooperation as we face this challenge together. We remain open to your suggestions on how to move forward and look forward to working with you in the future.
