Rules of court and judicial procedural orders require that a party’s representative at a mediation have full authority to negotiate and agree to a settlement. But only infrequently will an institutional, insurance, governmental or large corporate party send such a representative. Because video mediation allows each party to participate from its own place of business, however, there is a greater likelihood that a participating party representative will have ready access to a superior having greater authority and may even be able to put that person in direct video contact with the Mediator, so video mediations make it more likely that someone with necessary settlement authority will be accessible to the mediation process.
Best wishes to all for a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday!