When the concept of mediation was introduced in the 1980s, it was adopted into the mainstream practice of law for the purpose of settling an entire case. In reality, the purpose of mediation is to facilitate the resolution of any dispute, whether before or during litigation.
Every case now has some form of electronic evidence — emails, texts, GPS data, spreadsheets, social media postings, and word processing documents, to name a few. What do lawyers fight about most in a civil lawsuit? E-discovery. So, it makes sense that mediation is appropriate for resolving discovery disputes. Lawyers, clients, and courts are exploring how mediation can conserve time, money, and heartache for discovery disputes involving electronically stored information.
E-mediation — a term coined for the process — offers the parties a means to have control over their discovery in a confidential manner.