Prior to the pandemic, virtual hearings for labor-management arbitration and mediation were rarely used. Since the start of the pandemic and with its acceleration, virtual platforms are now the dominant forums for arbitrations and mediations. Will the adoption of virtual interactions continue after the pandemic or will in-person approaches return?

The Restatement 2d of Contracts finished in 1981, added concepts of  temporary and partial impracticability and also restitution or reliance  damages to ameliorate loss. While traditional application of such  doctrines would lead to a finding that the contract automatically  terminates, other cases state that if the frustration or impracticability is  only temporary, then so is the hold on obligations (i.e. paying rent on office  space when Santa Clara County ordinance forbids non-essential office  use). This will obviously be only temporary. 

Keeping the marital home in divorce and pitfalls for the unwary. In most marriages there is a marital home and it’s often the largest, or one of the largest assets.  Particularly if there are kids, in divorce, one spouse often wants to keep the marital home.

It was during late March 2020, soon after the pandemic first made global headlines, that a group of leading mediators and mediation trainers realized on a Zoom call that the ONLY mediation then taking place in the U.S. and around the world was suddenly "online mediation." Further, we also realized that ALL mediation training was also then remarkably taking place online.

Considering how strange this year has been, it was still an unusual day at work, last week – two zoom meetings rescheduled, a mediation called off and a no-show at two consecutive mediation pitches by participants with prior registration.

2020 has been a difficult year for many of us.  From the pandemic to shutdowns to political chaos, it has been challenging to find any sure footing.   Every time we think we've got the last crisis under control it seems a new one popped up in its place.  I'm guessing that our great-grandkids will one day ask us what it was like to live through the covid-19 crisis, and we’ll just shake our heads and say, “Well, it was a pretty rough time.”