Learning to understand legal nuances is a key part of studying for a law degree, but being an effective lawyer also requires the ability to listen, negotiate, understand conflict, and help parties find a path forward. As part of its not-for-profit mission to advance fair, effective, and accessible dispute resolution, the American Arbitration Association® (AAA) partners with law schools across the country to help students and early-career lawyers develop practical skills that complement classroom learning and prepare them for the challenges of legal practice.
Working closely with law school administrators, faculty, and students, the AAA develops tailored educational programs that draw on its dispute resolution expertise, educational resources, and network of experienced practitioners to meet each institution's curriculum, interests, and student needs.
Several of the AAA's recent law school collaborations have focused on hands-on mediation training, allowing students to explore the process from the perspectives of mediators, advocates, and parties, while developing practical skills in communication, negotiation, and mediation advocacy. In October 2025, the AAA partnered with the University of Louisville Brandeis School of Law to deliver mediation training focused on the challenges of resolving family law disputes. In August 2026, the AAA brought a similar program to Drexel University's Thomas R. Kline School of Law, where students participated in training covering a broader range of dispute types. That same month, the AAA collaborated with the University of Tulsa College of Law to offer Mediator Essentials: Mediation Practice and Peacemaking Perspectives, an intensive 40-hour program combining foundational mediation training with peacemaking approaches relevant to the Tulsa community.
“The next generation of lawyers will play an important role in shaping how conflicts are managed and resolved,” said Steven Andersen, division vice president of education services at the AAA. “By providing opportunities for students to learn from experienced practitioners and put their knowledge into practice, we're helping them build the skills and confidence to navigate complex disputes throughout their careers.”
Together, these programs prepare students for more than careers as mediators. Understanding conflict dynamics and resolution strategies is valuable both within and beyond legal practice, whether lawyers represent clients in mediation, prepare for arbitration, negotiate transactions, or navigate disagreements in other professional and personal settings. By developing these skills early, students can enter the profession better equipped to assess their clients' needs, evaluate options, and pursue effective solutions.
Preparing Students for a Changing Profession
Other law school collaborations explore how technology can improve access to dispute resolution and address real-world challenges within the justice system. Through the AAA–Suffolk Online Dispute Resolution (ODR) Innovation Clinic, a multi-year collaboration with Suffolk University Law School, students are helping develop technology-enabled solutions for self-represented individuals navigating the legal system.
Launched in August 2025, the Clinic focuses on making uncontested and lightly contested divorce processes in Massachusetts more accessible. Students observed court proceedings and mediations, interacted with self-represented litigants, and worked directly with clients to better understand the challenges they face. With help from technology partner Portable, students applied their observations to refine Portable's Civily platform, an online dispute resolution tool, to the Massachusetts low-contest divorce context. The students continue to evaluate and refine the platform and are preparing for user testing. The AAA is also providing clinic students with mediation training, complementing the platform's goal of helping parties resolve disputes independently while offering a pathway to mediation for issues that remain unresolved.
By combining legal practice with technology development, the Clinic gives students an opportunity to help shape new approaches to dispute resolution while gaining experience relevant to an evolving legal profession. The collaboration also demonstrates how the AAA can work with law schools to develop programs around the specific interests, needs, and opportunities within their communities.
Experiencing Arbitration as an Advocate
The AAA is also expanding opportunities for students to develop arbitration advocacy skills through its collaboration with American University Washington College of Law's Center on International Commercial Arbitration. The AAA recently announced its support for the Washington American Arbitration Competition (WAAC), an annual moot arbitration competition bringing together law students from the United States and around the world.
The AAA will contribute its arbitration expertise, rules, educational resources, and connections to experienced practitioners. Each year, the competition will use a different set of AAA rules, exposing students to a range of arbitration procedures and issues. Working in teams, participants will analyze complex legal and factual questions, develop case strategies, prepare written submissions, and present arguments before experienced arbitration practitioners.
Registration is now open for the 2027 competition, with oral rounds scheduled for April 8–10, 2027, in Washington, D.C.
Creating More Pathways Into Dispute Resolution
As the AAA begins its second century, it is looking to build on these collaborations by strengthening its relationships with law schools, faculty, and students and creating new opportunities to learn directly from experienced arbitrators, mediators, and other dispute resolution professionals. Through its educational initiatives and partnerships, the AAA aims to continue developing programs that respond to the evolving needs of law schools and the legal profession, helping students make the transition from classroom learning to practice with a broader set of skills to serve their clients and communities.