Anyone who has ever been through the process of settling a legal case through traditional mediation will tell you how drawn out and frustrating the process can be. The difficulty in finding a workable day and time when all parties are available to meet. It’s also inconvenient to spend days away from work and life at home.

Moreover, it’s exceptionally frustrating when the entire process is inefficient with no recourse. With all that time spent posturing and delaying, parties often leave traditional mediation feeling as if not much has been accomplished.

Despite its inefficiencies, mediation continues to be a more prevalent form of dispute resolution. Given that only 3% of civil cases actually make it to trial, most disputes turn to alternative dispute resolution methods such as mediation to reach a settlement.

With the increasing popularity of mediation in the current legal sphere, the real question becomes, what is the best way to mediate?

Is there a way to avoid scheduling conflicts, inconvenient delays, time spent travelling, and all that posturing?

The growth of technology has resulted in a global growth in online dispute resolution tools. Online mediation services are becoming increasingly popular thanks to the benefits it offers to parties. Using an online mediator helps parties avoid many headaches associated with traditional mediation.

Here are some key benefits to using an online mediator instead of going the traditional way.

Higher efficiency

Without the need to travel or find a facility to meet, online mediation offers a more focused and convenient platform to get results. Established deadlines are more realistic and can be tighter due to the ease of attendance online compared to the traditional requirement of commuting.

Both parties inherently save more time by using an online mediator.

Cost effective

In terms of financial efficiency, most online mediation platforms are cheaper than traditional mediation. With the latter depending on many factors such as location, nature of the litigation, reputation of the mediator, and so on, the typical rate is by the hour ranging from hundreds to thousands of dollars per hour.

In contrast, online mediation often offers an attractive flat rate that is significantly lower than traditional mediation. Where an hourly rate is used, an online mediator would generally charge less in comparison due to lesser time and resources being spent on each case.

More candor

Perhaps the most significant benefit of online mediation is the ability for parties to be more candid with the settlement offer. Parties won’t have much time to posture and offer unrealistic settlement offers.

Online mediation is designed with efficiency in mind, and the system is created with more push for parties to reveal the best settlement offer in aim to reach an agreement. This encouragement for parties to be honest and not waste time helps online mediation see results quicker.

When to use an online mediator

There will be some cases where traditional mediation would work better. However, given all its advantages, it is worth considering using an online mediator to settle your case.

After all, why would you spend thousands more dollars and countless extra hours on traditional mediation when there is a better option?