The COVID-19 pandemic opened a new universe in world of mediation. Prior to 2020 there may have been some online mediations or hybrid (mixed in-person and virtual) mediations taking place, but it was rare. The overwhelming majority of mediations took place in a conference room, with breakout sessions in separate rooms and all the participants attending, many flying in from their home office to the location of the mediation. This system worked for many years and but for COVID, would most likely still be going on.

With the arrival of the pandemic and its attending restrictions, we all went virtual. Not only were most courts closed, and hence a flood of increased mediation activity, but mediators could no longer meet with participants face-to-face. Zoom literally took over the world of ADR, especially with their excellent breakout rooms that made mediation "almost" like actually being there.

The insurance world is a significant consumer of mediation. Insurance companies, with their vast inventory of litigated disputes, have long recognized that mediation works and is a tremendous cost and time saver. Mediation brings disputes to resolution in a day, or a few days, that would otherwise be litigated over many months, or years, at great cost.