Partnership with ODR.com and Mediate.com promises faster and fairer resolutions

NEW YORK, May 30, 2024 /PRNewswire/ — The American Arbitration Association (AAA^®) and its international division, the International Centre for Dispute Resolution^® (AAA-ICDR^®), today announced the acquisition of ODR.com Inc. and its parent company, Resourceful Internet Solutions Inc. (RIS), which owns Mediate.com and several other websites. This move bolsters the AAA-ICDR’s mission to expand innovative alternative dispute resolution (ADR) options to benefit businesses, communities and practitioners worldwide.

“The American Arbitration Association, soon to celebrate its 100^th anniversary, was founded to relieve overburdened courts by giving businesses a proven and effective alternative to resolving disputes. As technology, especially AI, is raising the bar for both quality and speed, our customers trust us to be the leader in helping them leverage these advances to achieve resolution efficiently,” said AAA President and CEO Bridget McCormack.

The immediate focus of the alliance will be expanding AAA’s mediation services by developing a suite of online dispute resolution (ODR) products. “Demand for ODR is growing rapidly worldwide, and working with the AAA will keep us on the cutting edge,” said RIS CEO Colin Rule. “Our shared goal is to make ADR an accessible choice for everyone, and this alliance will enable us to achieve that goal at an unprecedented level.”

McCormack noted that ODR.com, as the leading technology company in mediation and arbitration, has the software and experience to build ODR systems at any scale. “The RIS team is led by pioneers in technology and dispute resolution,” she said. “They have designed and launched the largest and most successful ODR systems globally, including those at eBay and PayPal, which have resolved hundreds of millions of disputes.”

ODR.com will remain a separate for-profit software-as-a-service (SaaS) company dedicated to providing cutting-edge technology and ethical artificial intelligence to the ADR community. “Together, we’re creating something greater than the sum of our parts. This alliance empowers us to dramatically expand our products and services to reach new and underserved markets globally,” McCormack said.

McCormack and Rule will record a live episode of the AAAi Podcast at the upcoming Future Lawyer USA conference on May 30 at the Boston office of Ropes & Gray, where they will discuss the AAA’s roadmap and the future of dispute resolution.

About ODR.com and Mediate.com (RIS)
ODR.com is the global leader in online dispute resolution. It serves courts, universities, businesses of all sizes and governmental agencies at all levels. ODR.com offers a proven, secure and scalable online dispute resolution platform, which is used by more than 200 dispute resolution partner organizations worldwide, including the International Monetary Fund, the International Committee of the Red Cross and NASA.

Since its establishment in 1996, Mediate.com has been the world’s foremost mediation website, offering an extensive repository of dispute resolution resources. The site provides online mediation courses through MediateUniversity.com and hosts the most widely utilized directory of global mediators.

About the American Arbitration Association
The not-for-profit AAA is the leading provider of ADR services. It has administered more than seven million ADR cases since its founding in 1926. With 29 offices in the United States and Singapore, the AAA provides organizations of all sizes in virtually every industry with ADR services and products. For more information, visit www.adr.org.

About the International Centre for Dispute Resolution
The International Centre for Dispute Resolution (ICDR^®) is the international division of the AAA and the largest international provider of dispute resolution services. Established in 1996, the ICDR serves parties from over 100 countries with multilingual staff experienced in international dispute resolution proceedings and a roster of over 725 arbitrators and mediators. For more information, visit www.icdr.org.

Media Contact:

Michael C. Clark
American Arbitration Association
+1.212.716.3978
clarkm@adr.org

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SOURCE American Arbitration Association