The COVID-19 pandemic has forced the legal system (both domestic and worldwide) to adapt in unprecedented ways. Often, this has meant taking initial forays into the world of online dispute resolution, or ODR. In this manner, courts, mediators, arbitrators, and other legal professionals have been able to provide expanded access from a safe distance. Indeed, if ODR services continue to develop, they show the potential to make legal services more convenient and less costly from this point forward. ODR has demonstrated particular applicability in facilitating divorce negotiations, but it has not been time-tested, and we must make sure that this apparent democratization does not bring with it degradation in the quality of service. There is now an urgent need for analysis and evaluation of the full breadth of ODR technologies, so that they may be put to use appropriately without delay, and this task falls to legal scholarship. This article explores the past and present of the ODR landscape, performs a cost-benefit analysis of some of ODR's more controversial aspects, and finally proposes a viable way forward, such that every stakeholder is treated with the respect and dignity that they deserve.
