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15 Ohio St. J. on Disp. Resol. 735 (1999-2000)
Online Mediation: Has Its Time Come

handle is hein.journals/ohjdpr15 and id is 755 raw text is: Online Mediation: Has Its Time Come? BRUCE LEONARD BEAL* I. SUMMARY * As commerce and other transactions and communications move onto the Internet, intuitively, methods to resolve disputes arising from this trend also must move onto the Internet. * Mediation, being less formal than other methods of dispute resolution, especially litigation and arbitration, better lends itself to the Internet. * Internet commerce sets up the probability that its merchants, suppliers, and customers will not exist in the same legal jurisdictions. The confusing application of laws and wide geographical dispersion of these parties will necessitate a faster and cheaper dispute resolution methodology. • Internet parties will find a way to obviate the legal risk of submitting their disputes to foreign laws and proceedings as well as the costs of traveling to and supporting these proceedings. * Internet parties (and this is a purely personal observation based on years of experience with the Internet, both personal and business) appear not to resort to litigation as easily as traditional parties, maybe because of the above considerations, but also because they tend to be more sophisticated in knowing that disputes must be dealt with quickly and cheaply. Internet parties are not used to paying for services, including professional services and advice! Internet mediators need to be prepared for a substantial number of queries asking essentially for free legal advice rather than for any true desire to mediate formally. * Mediators should keep their day jobs. Online mediation will not manifest fully until videoconferencing becomes ubiquitous, so that the following will apply: (1) video cameras and microphones are built into computers; (2) videoconferencing software is bundled in computers; and (3) modems are fast enough to accommodate videoconferencing. Networks and online appliances should be included within the above term computers. Businesspersons have not accepted mediation negotiations by e-mail, Internet chat rooms, and the like. When videoconferencing becomes about as easy as using a telephone, then online mediation will come into its own. * Originator and owner of Internet Neutral Mediation Services <http://www.internetneutral.com>; attorney; mediator; editor of new mediation websites for the Open Directory project; panel expert for Allexperts.com in the arbitration/mediation section.

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