Very Rudimentary
{3 minutes to read} On March 10, 1876, Alexander Graham Bell, inventor of the telephone, made the world’s first phone call to his assistant, Thomas Watson. He did not say, “Please check the attachment in the email I just sent you, forward it to Mr. Smith in London, and we’ll all talk via Skype at 2 pm ET. Also, check out the photos of my granddaughter that I texted you. Isn’t she a cutie?”
I used to think that in-person mediation always worked best because having everyone in the same place (not necessarily the same room) at the same time forced people to address the dispute in a focused manner. People were present. They had set aside the day, or at least several hours, for one thing only, and they were face to face with the mediator and at times the other side. It meant everyone got down to business. The mediation itself forced people to grapple with issues in a way they probably would not have if their lawyers were just on their own, figuring out ways to “screw the other side” at a hefty hourly rate.