As a paralegal, I have represented parties in numerous forms of mediation and have seen how successful it can be if both parties come to mediation with an open mind and intention to resolve the issue. For this reason, among others, I chose mediation as an area to learn and offer to our clients. I see this as an opportunity for myself and our clients due to the current court closure and inevitable backlog it will cause. Mediation can be used as an alternative to the court process or as a way to potentially resolve a dispute while waiting for a court appearance to be scheduled/rescheduled because of the COVID-19 shutdown.