Law and dispute resolution
Legal education and mediation experience help our team recognize issues, procedural questions, negotiation barriers, and the value of independent professional advice.
When a disagreement affects your family, business, work, or community, the person guiding the conversation matters. VirNet brings together legal, educational, and human-centered experience to help people approach difficult decisions with clarity and respect.
Online mediation across the United States, subject to suitability and applicable requirements. In-person arrangements may also be available.
Our mediators draw on different professional backgrounds, but we share a commitment to careful listening, balanced participation, and practical problem-solving. We help participants work with the complexity of a dispute without losing sight of the people affected by it.
Legal education and mediation experience help our team recognize issues, procedural questions, negotiation barriers, and the value of independent professional advice.
Training in psychology, communication, education, and organizational systems helps us navigate emotionally charged conversations with care.
We help parties clarify their priorities, exchange relevant information, evaluate options, and document potential agreements when appropriate.
Get to know the people who guide mediation, lead client intake, and help shape VirNet's approach to difficult conversations. Each brings a distinct perspective and professional experience to the team.
Mediation is built on trust. Meet the professionals who create a structured, respectful space to explore options and move difficult conversations forward.
Legal experience, academic training, and years spent facilitating difficult discussions inform our workāwhile neutrality and participant choice remain central to every mediation.
Attorney, educator, and mediator whose practice draws on civil rights administration, workplace dispute resolution, negotiation, and organizational leadership. Ben emphasizes thoughtful preparation, clear communication, and durable, participant-driven agreements.
Read Ben's background
Attorney and bilingual mediator who helps individuals, families, and businesses work through emotionally charged and complex disputes. Josh brings a calm, practical approach to communication, negotiation, and the development of workable agreements.
Read Josh's background
Virginia Earwicker is a Certified Professional Mediator with a background in psychology and graduate studies in clinical mental health counseling. As Client Lead Specialist and Mediator, she helps individuals and families navigate difficult conversations with empathy, clarity, and thoughtful guidance. Virginia brings a compassionate, client-centered approach to mediation, emphasizing trust, communication, and practical resolution.
Read Virginia's backgroundBen founded VirNet to bring rigorous, accessible mediation and conflict-resolution services to individuals, families, businesses, and organizations across geographic boundaries.
His experience spans mediation practice, civil rights administration, higher education, organizational leadership, and negotiation. His work with the Idaho Human Rights Commission has included leadership of a statewide civil rights agency and its dispute-resolution functions, involving employment, housing, public accommodations, and other matters. He has worked with complex disputes that require attention to legal context, power dynamics, communication, and practical options.
Ben earned his J.D. from the University of Idaho College of Law and his Ph.D. from the University of Otago in New Zealand, following graduate work in international studies. His doctoral research examined power and social relationships through an interactionist framework. These interdisciplinary interests continue to inform his approach to negotiation and the structure of productive conversations.
In addition to mediating, Ben teaches negotiation and appropriate dispute resolution to law students and develops professional mediation education, including VirNet's 40-hour foundational training curriculum. His experience as a university instructor and administrator helps him work with educational institutions, leadership teams, and organizations facing difficult decisions or strained relationships.
Before his extensive mediation and civil rights leadership work, Ben taught at universities in the United States and New Zealand and held academic administration roles. His studies span psychology, social work, Spanish, international studies, law, and the social sciences. He has also taught and presented on intercultural communication, education, employment law, and related subjects in international and U.S. settings.
His professional approach emphasizes careful preparation, empathy without partiality, interest-based negotiation, and realistic solutions that participants can understand and evaluate independently.
Josh helps participants move through emotionally difficult and technically complicated disputes with steady communication, clear options, and practical negotiation.
As VirNet's Lead Mediator, Josh works with individuals, couples, and organizations on divorce and separation, parenting plans, child support, housing and co-ownership disputes, business and partnership disagreements, and other civil conflicts. He has conducted mediation and negotiation sessions for participants located in numerous U.S. states and internationally.
Josh earned his J.D. from the University of Idaho College of Law and completed 40-hour family mediation training through the Northwest Institute for Dispute Resolution. As a law student, he led the Law Students for Alternative Dispute Resolution organization, supported negotiation and mediation competitions, and gained practical experience mediating eviction-court matters.
Fluent in Spanish, Josh brings an approachable, measured style to high-stakes conversations. He emphasizes balanced participation, careful examination of proposals, and terms that reflect what participants can realistically accomplish after mediation.
Virginia often helps create the first positive experience of the mediation process: a calm conversation about what is happening, who is involved, and what meaningful next steps may look like.
As VirNet's Client Lead Specialist and Mediator, Virginia supports inquiry and intake coordination and helps participants understand how mediation may work for their circumstances. Her approach emphasizes listening, clarity, empathy, and thoughtful preparation when people are approaching stressful or unfamiliar conversations.
Virginia holds a bachelor's degree in psychology, has pursued graduate studies in clinical mental health counseling, and is a Certified Professional Mediator. Her background contributes a relational and communication-focused perspective to VirNet's team.
Virginia's role in client contact includes helping organize information and process expectations. When serving as a mediator, she works within the neutral role and applicable mediation agreements. Her mediation and intake work should not be understood as psychotherapy, clinical mental health counseling, or a substitute for independent professional advice.
Several members of our team bring legal or counseling-related education to their work. In mediation, that knowledge supports the process; it does not change the neutral's role into an attorney or clinician for either participant.
Distinct services, distinct roles: VirNet's neutral mediation work is separate from any attorney-client representation a professional may provide through a different practice. Potential conflicts and prior relationships must be evaluated before accepting a mediation engagement.
Every matter is different. Our team works across several practice areas and discusses the appropriate mediator, participants, process, and any limitations during intake.
Working with a mediator should not feel mysterious. We explain the process and practical expectations before substantive mediation begins.
Share a concise, non-sensitive description of the dispute, location, and people involved using the inquiry form.
We consider potential conflicts, participation needs, proposed roles, confidentiality questions, and practical logistics.
Before scheduling substantive work, we discuss scope, fees, the mediation agreement, and relevant information to prepare.
When appropriate, we facilitate joint and separate conversations to clarify interests, consider options, and explore possible agreements.
Participation requirements, legal deadlines, confidentiality protections, and possible outcomes depend on the circumstances and applicable law. No agreement or particular outcome is guaranteed.
VirNet's practice is informed by professional education, academic teaching, and ongoing attention to negotiation and conflict-resolution methods. Ben teaches negotiation and appropriate dispute resolution at the University of Idaho College of Law and has developed foundational mediation coursework for aspiring practitioners and professionals.
Our online 40-hour training offers a structured introduction to mediation, with options for independent study, guided feedback, and individualized instruction. Completion of training does not automatically establish court certification or roster eligibility in every jurisdiction.
Explore 40-hour mediation training →These answers describe the team's general process. Individual engagements are subject to conflicts review, the applicable agreement, and the circumstances of the dispute.
During intake, VirNet considers the type of dispute, relevant experience, scheduling, potential conflicts of interest, and participant needs. We discuss the proposed neutral and engagement arrangements before services begin.
No. They bring legal education to their work, but when engaged as neutral mediators they do not act as legal counsel for either side, give either participant individualized legal representation, or decide the dispute. Participants may consult their own attorneys.
Often, yes. VirNet primarily provides online mediation and can coordinate remote participants in different locations, subject to suitability, relevant legal or court requirements, and practical considerations.
Both. Virginia supports initial inquiries and intake coordination and is also a Certified Professional Mediator. Her specific role in any matter is clarified as part of the engagement process.
Ben and Josh are both fluent in Spanish. Let VirNet know about your language preferences during initial contact so we can discuss availability and any additional language-access needs.
No blanket confidentiality promise applies to every conversation. Mediation confidentiality and privilege may depend on applicable law, contracts, participants, and exceptions. Initial website inquiries are not automatically protected in the same way as communications in an established mediation process.
Prior relationships and potential conflicts must be evaluated. Some circumstances may require disclosure, participant consent, a different mediator, or declining the engagement. VirNet does not assume that advisory work for one side can simply become neutral mediation.
Yes. VirNet offers mediation and separately administered professional mediation education. Training completion and eligibility for court or state rosters are separate questions that should be evaluated for the relevant jurisdiction.
You don't need to have everything resolved before you contact us. Tell us the general nature of the dispute and what kind of assistance you're seeking. We'll discuss how VirNet may be able to help, or whether another process is more appropriate.