Online mediation makes court debut in Shanghai

The first online pre-litigation mediation platform in Shanghai was put into use by a district court on Tuesday, partly in response to a rising number of civil cases involving a foreign party.

Foreign entities often find it hard to attend mediations, a process in which disputes can be settled outside of courtrooms.

Now, with mediations moving online, a plaintiff and defendant in a lawsuit no longer need to be physically present in a courtroom with a judge. Instead, they can all go online through video chat software to talk things over and reach an agreement.