The Next Era of Dispute Resolution
This year, the AAA-ICDR is celebrating 100 years of leadership and innovation. Over the past century, it has built a new model for resolving disputes, defining new standards and practices, all while administering more than nine million cases across industries, jurisdictions, and borders.
With a new century on the horizon, the AAA-ICDR hopes to continue to pave the future of dispute resolution amid various changes.
“We’re at a pivotal moment where dispute resolution is being reshaped by both technology and rising expectations for efficiency, transparency, and seamless integration into how business is done,” said AAA President and CEO Bridget McCormack.
AAA Senior Vice President, General Counsel & Assistant Corporate Secretary Sasha Carbone elaborates on this, explaining that “there is a growing demand for accessibility and efficiency in dispute resolution. Businesses and individuals want processes that are faster, more transparent, and proportionate to the dispute at hand.”
Fortunately, institutions like the AAA–ICDR start from a position of strength, having established trusted, neutral processes for a century.
“The opportunity now is to translate those processes into systems that are more consistent, more scalable, and more transparent, while maintaining the quality and judgment that define them,” said Senior Vice President and CIO Diana Didia.
Shaping the Future
In preparing for the next era of arbitration, institutions need to take a multi-faceted approach, ensuring longevity and trust.
“Leading arbitral institutions have a responsibility not just to adopt innovation, but to shape how it is governed and implemented across the field,” said Didia.
McCormack adds that this “means designing systems that are transparent, explainable, and consistent, with clear accountability and input from legal, technical, and operational perspectives.”
At the same time, innovation must be purposeful. AAA Vice President of Innovation Linda Beyea, when teaching, frequently quotes business author Jim Collins, who said visionary companies thrive when they “preserve the core and stimulate progress.”
She explains that “he meant, while audaciously innovating and challenging the status quo, always protect the organization’s core values. Core values such as neutrality, fairness, and confidentiality serve as guardrails for challenging assumptions and testing new ideas in ADR.”
Modernization and Neutrality
Innovation requires modernization. Often, a lot can get lost in translation. However, this doesn’t have to be the case.
Modernization can enhance “neutrality and credibility when it makes the institution’s core principles more consistent, more transparent, and more resilient at scale,” said Didia.
The incorporation of new technologies can strengthen an institution’s core values, such as institutional credibility and neutrality.
“But that requires clear boundaries: using technology for routine processes and preserving human judgment where it matters most,” emphasizes McCormack. Didia adds: “Modernization, done well, does not erode neutrality. It makes neutrality more durable, demonstrable, and scalable in a changing environment.”
The Importance of Institutional Representation
Inclusivity is an important facet of any modernization. A diversity of perspectives and experiences in an organization can strengthen its core values and future development.
“Representation matters because it shapes how institutions define problems and design solutions,” said McCormack. “Diverse leadership leads to more thoughtful, inclusive, and credible systems—especially as we make lasting decisions about how technology is integrated.”
Inclusivity, especially at a leadership level, can also alter how institutions are perceived.
"Parties and other stakeholders want to see that decision-makers understand the full spectrum of the business and legal environments in which they operate,” explains Carbone.
Inclusivity and diversity are not only a high priority for our institution; they are also baked into our foundation.
“The AAA–ICDR’s history is inseparable from the leadership of Frances Kellor, whose vision helped define the institution at its founding,” said Beyea. “We carry on Kellor’s legacy of strong, female leaders committed to transforming how the world navigates conflict.”
Adaptation in an Ever-Changing World
As the AAA-ICDR prepares for the next 100 years, it is important that it and like-minded institutions are prepared to address and adapt to future challenges, including ones that might not be as obvious.
“The greatest risk isn’t disruption—it’s losing relevance if we don’t evolve,” said McCormack.
Carbone echoes this perspective, adding that “in a rapidly evolving legal and technological landscape, institutions that assume their historical credibility alone will sustain them may find themselves outpaced by alternative platforms.”
To prevent this, it’s important to maintain, what Didia describes as a “a proactive and deliberate approach.”
Beyea advises that the best way for arbitral institutions to go forward is by “modernizing their technology, strengthening their change management capabilities, and building the leadership and infrastructure needed to compete in a rapidly evolving dispute-resolution landscape.”
That is where institutions like the AAA–ICDR are uniquely positioned to lead, existing at the intersection of trust, innovation, and adaptation.
“Done right,” McCormack adds, this “is an opportunity to strengthen our role in an increasingly complex system.”