EP347 Giving Zoom Mediations a Body: Introducing ZODR AI

**Note: ZODR AI is in the semi-finals of the  2026 ABA Techshow Startup Alley Competition in Chicago. Voting is now open. Make your voice heard. Learn more at LMINetwork.com/Zodr

Start With Why

In his book Start With Why, Simon Sinek explains that while people can be motivated by manipulations—like fear, peer pressure, or price—true lasting engagement only comes from inspiration. In 2020, the legal and mediation worlds experienced a massive, fear-based manipulation: The pandemic forced alternative dispute resolution (ADR) professionals into online mediation by necessity, not by choice or inspiration. Some mediators even reverted back to traditional in-person mediations once lockdowns were lifted, as the immediate necessity for mediating on Zoom disappeared. While most mediations are done online now, why should a mediator continue to develop their practice online beyond just handling “Zoom mediations,” especially if they already account for the possibility of future lockdowns? More importantly, why should those mediators invest in additional online tools beyond Zoom Pro to help them mediate effectively online?

The How & When

Before addressing the why, we must first examine the “how” and “when” that brought us to this digital crossroads. While many in the profession were satisfied with traditional in-person mediation methods, the sudden global shift acted as a forced experiment that exposed the limitations of face-to-face mediation. Up until 2020, many mediators were deeply resistant to conflict resolution when parties weren’t in the same physical space. I remember in one of my initial mediation training sessions in early 2017 where my question about “online mediation” was brushed off as a curiosity for the distant future. No time was spent discussing how the evolving world of tech might impact mediators or their mediation participants. That distant future arrived three years later, when mediators and other ADR professionals rapidly adopted Zoom, the most common tool they could find to host their mediations online. While that gave mediators a “place” to do their online mediations, it was not a proper home. Mediators who found themselves using Zoom—a tool designed for general video calls—were like doctors using kitchen knives for medical surgery. Knives may work, but a surgeon deserves a scalpel. Mediators needed their online mediation place to be an organized, structured online office built for the mediation experience. They needed an online platform that functioned much like their physical office did, where intake, negotiations, and settlements could occur. Zoom met some of these needs, primarily by providing a video communications space with multi-room caucusing capabilities.

Toward the Online Mediation Office

But the challenge with terms like “online mediations,” “online office,” or working in “the cloud” is that these are broad, amorphous concepts. For many, it was difficult to imagine running an “online mediation office” when it didn’t seem to “reside” anywhere tangible. I have met many mediators (and lawyers) since 2020 who have fantasized about working remotely “in their pajamas” to help their clients and get things done (not that dressing up only the top half of your body is professional :), but the sentiment was clear. Law and mediation professionals who had discovered Zoom’s capabilities for remote work began imagining the ways online tools could make their practices cheaper to run, more efficient to administer, and scalable across wider distances. These dreams are why ZODR AI now exists.

Introducing ZODR AI

ZODR changes the game by giving zoom mediations a “body”. Imagine a physicalized digital storefront for your Zoom mediations where your keyboard is your cash register (yes, ZODR helps mediators get paid). ZODR creates a central hub for your Zoom mediation practice, all without forcing you to relearn a new platform or taking you away from Zoom. ZODR’s “Why” is to move beyond the fragmented workflows of the past—where case data was scattered across emails, calendars, Word docs, and Zoom links—and provide an all-in-one command center purpose-built for neutrals, one that also encourages settlements through the use of AI integrations. ZODR provides:

• Integrated Administration: Seamlessly manage your intake, connect with Google Calendar, and accept Stripe payments.
• AI Co-Mediation: With the option to utilize a large language model tweaked specifically to transcribe mediation sessions and suggest settlement options or avenues, ZODR can help mediators avoid impasse and change lives.
• Global Reach: Border restrictions and language barriers are a thing of the past with online mediations assisted by ZODR AI interpretation.
• Human Always in the Loop: ZODR is not meant to replace you. Instead, the optional “AI co-mediator” within ZODR helps mediators do their best mediation work online by identifying avenues for avoiding impasse and suggesting settlement options.
• Security & Confidentiality: Centralizing sensitive data into your secure ZODR dashboard protects the mediator’s flow and party privacy.
• Frictionless Adoption: Enhancing Zoom rather than replacing it means no new training is required and onboarding is a breeze.

The Case for Zoom Friendly ODR

You and your mediation parties/clients are already trained on Zoom. This existing fluency is a powerful asset; rather than forcing participants to navigate an entirely new, complex software environment, ZODR leverages the platform they already know and trust. By building on top of this familiar interface, we eliminate technical friction and keep the focus entirely on the resolution process rather than the tools themselves. ZODR aims to expand and augment Zoom to address the concerns of conflict resolution professionals and meet the needs of mediation parties. Aside from the powerful LLM features developed in the last several years, ZODR is what Zoom would have looked like if it had been designed by mediators, for mediators, from day one before the 2020 pandemic.

The LMI Network is not just building online mediation software; we are imagining what online mediation can be, not constraining ourselves to the pre-pandemic platforms mediators just had to use. I invite you to join us on this ZODR journey as we transform virtual practice from a forced necessity into an inspired digital powerhouse. Let’s build the future of resolution together by inspiring each other.