Online dispute resolution blooms
in DC area.
A retired judge in the DC area is helping grow the online dispute resolution world with Virtual courthouse.com.
What’s this, you say? Our Mediator-in-the-making is exploring situations in which conflicts are resolved without any face-to-face work? Yes, I am intrigued by the ODR world. But please note as I have that this method is not for everyone or every case.
“The ideal case for Virtual Courthouse has only two parties, involves a dispute over money (as opposed to other forms of relief) and is not emotionally charged, he said. Fender-bender lawsuits fit the bill; custody cases and nasty disputes between neighbors do not.”
That makes sense to me.
It also seems that parties need to have certain resources in order to choose this route. For instance, as noted below, one would need access to a scanner to upload images of necessary documents. Money is also more of a factor here than in small claims, as “Virtual Courthouse charges each party a filing fee of $50 and the arbitrator or mediator charges the parties $300 total.”
Another consideration … insurance companies (or their lawyers) often do not agree to online dispute resolution. But Virtual Courthouse’s founder does feel that the legal profession is warming up to ODR.
Enough of this talk of limitations. How does it work?
“A plaintiff starts the process by registering with Virtual Courthouse, which e-mails the defendant to see if he or she will agree to ODR. If so, the parties pick a neutral from Virtual Courthouse’s list … (then) each party types in a statement of the case and uploads scanned images of any necessary documents, such as doctor’s bills. The neutral then decides what the case is worth.”
Cases have taken anywhere from 15 minutes to 45 days to complete.
And lest you think I’m on the verge of abandoning my face-to-face is best platform, the article noted that about 1/4 of Virtual Courthouse cases end up in face-to-face mediation.
