Advancing Efficiency and Quality in ADR: How the AAA-ICDR's Partnership with Clearbrief Revolutionizes Arbitration and Mediation
By Caitlin Saint-Jean
In an era where technology continues to reshape the dispute resolution landscape, the AAA-ICDR's® partnership with Clearbrief marks a pivotal step in modernizing arbitration and mediation practices. By integrating Clearbrief's AI-powered tools, the AAA® aims to enhance efficiency, reduce costs and improve the quality of awards. The successful pilot program, where arbitrators saved significant time and improved the clarity and accuracy of their work, highlights the transformative potential of this collaboration. AAA-ICDR leaders—Cindy Rumney, vice president, panel resources & development, Eric Dill, senior vice president, chief people officer and Bridget McCormack, president and CEO—along with Jacqueline Schafer, founder & CEO of Clearbrief AI, detail below the motivations behind the integration, its alignment with the AAA's broader strategy and the tools that are redefining the arbitration and mediation processes for neutrals and the parties.
Q: What motivated the AAA-ICDR to integrate Clearbrief's AI-powered tools into our arbitration and mediation processes?
Eric Dill (SVP, Chief People Officer): We recently completed a successful pilot program where about 20 arbitrators piloted and tested Clearbrief's tools and platform. They reported saving 8–10 hours per case, demonstrating Clearbrief's potential to reduce time and, therefore, costs and make arbitration a more affordable and attractive alternative to litigation. By streamlining the process, we further strengthen our position as a preferred provider of arbitration services. Another key benefit was the significant improvement in award quality. Arbitrators likened Clearbrief to an advanced "spell check" for legal writing, highlighting features such as citation verification, consistent formatting and improved clarity. These tools enhance the precision and professionalism of the panelists' work, aligning with our commitment to maintaining the highest standards. Clearbrief is already widely used by courts and leading Am Law 100 and 200 firms, ensuring seamless integration with systems familiar to many parties and their counsel. We're excited to offer this innovative platform to the AAA panelists on AAA-administered cases while supporting those who choose to purchase their own subscriptions for broader use. This initiative reflects our dedication to innovation, efficiency and excellence in arbitration and mediation.
Cindy Rumney (VP, Panel Resources & Development): Our journey to partnering with Clearbrief has been an exciting one, and the feedback from our panelists has truly validated this decision. While I wouldn't want to speak directly on their behalf, it's clear that the platform provided them with newfound confidence in their work. Clearbrief streamlined their award and order writing process, reducing the need for extensive back-and-forth, constant cross-checking or double-checking notes. Instead, it enabled arbitrators to focus on producing a polished, reliable final product with greater ease and efficiency. This partnership represents a significant step forward in enhancing both the quality and confidence of our arbitration services.
Bridget McCormack (President and CEO): Any tool that makes our process more efficient and more accurate is one we are going to want to incorporate, and that's what Clearbrief's products do. During our pilot program, neutrals saved 8–10 hours per case, which reduces the parties' costs and makes arbitration more accessible. The products allow neutrals to focus on the aspects of the case where their value is highest—reasoned decisions. Already widely used by courts and top law firms, Clearbrief seamlessly integrates with the systems many parties rely on.
Q: How does this partnership align with the AAA-ICDR's broader strategy to modernize dispute resolution services through technology adoption?
Eric Dill: It's a perfect fit. This initiative aligns seamlessly with our goal of assembling the most qualified panel, making the AAA the top choice for arbitrators and mediators alike. We're thrilled about the opportunities this brings and the impact it will have on the ADR community.
Cindy Rumney: While not a new mantra, the efficiency and cost-effectiveness of arbitration have always been core to our mission. This aligns not only with our evolving AI strategy but also with our longstanding commitment to making ADR a more streamlined and economical alternative.
Bridget McCormack: Our partnership with Clearbrief is the latest example of our commitment to modernize dispute resolution services through thoughtful technology adoption. By integrating innovative AI tools into our processes, we can enhance the efficiency, accuracy and accessibility of arbitration and mediation. By leveraging tools like Clearbrief, we can deliver greater value to users by streamlining the work neutrals must do in a given case. The world is going through a lot of disruption from AI right now—we can make sure users of our services see the upside of that.
Q: What measures are in place to ensure that arbitrators and mediators are adequately trained in using Clearbrief's AI tools responsibly?
Eric Dill: As part of our partnership, Clearbrief offers one-on-one training for panelists on how to effectively use the platform. This training also covers the appropriate and responsible use of AI, including generative AI, within the arbitral and mediation processes. The goal is to ensure arbitrators and mediators not only understand these tools but also feel confident and competent in using them. By equipping our panelists with this knowledge, we aim to enhance efficiency, reduce costs and improve the overall quality of awards and other aspects of the ADR process.
Q: In what ways does Clearbrief integrate with existing legal research and document management systems used by arbitrators and mediators?
Jacqueline Schafer (Founder and CEO): Clearbrief uses AI to automatically display cited factual and legal sources in pleadings or awards. Those sources display seamlessly inside the Word Add-In window thanks to our integrations with key systems arbitrators and mediators use, including case management platforms like iManage, NetDocuments, Clio, MyCase and Box (with more coming soon, including the AAA PRISM platform); e-discovery platforms like Relativity; and legal research tools like LexisNexis and Fastcase/vLex. Westlaw users can upload PDFs of legal authorities to automatically display cited sources within an arbitrator's draft. Clearbrief does not offer AI legal research, but it does have AI tools to check over the legal research section of an award and automatically display cited case law and statutes in a party's pleading.
Q: What unique features of Clearbrief's platform make it particularly suitable for use in arbitration and mediation contexts?
Jacqueline Schafer: Clearbrief's tools inside Word are designed to make it simple for the arbitrator, as well as the parties, to see visual reminders of underlying cited evidence throughout the writing and review process. This helps keep the arbitration focused on the evidence, which is key to an unbiased and fair proceeding. In addition, parties choose arbitration and mediation because they want a more efficient and faster resolution than is often possible in the court system due to systemic backlogs. Clearbrief's generative AI tools that create hyperlinked timelines instantly from large volumes of documents allow the arbitrator or mediator to review evidence and take notes with hyperlinked citations, as well as automatically check over citations and formatting with AI, resulting in a faster and more accurate review of voluminous evidence. That means the panelist spends fewer hours sorting through documents manually, and the parties receive a more efficient and cost-effective resolution. Finally, the fact that Clearbrief meets the strictest security and confidentiality requirements required by legal users is critical for its use in ADR.
Q: How does Clearbrief ensure the security and confidentiality of sensitive arbitration documents and data?
Eric Dill: Clearbrief maintains full SaaS certification compliance, as detailed on their website. In addition, the AAA is exploring a framework that will provide panelists and parties with the ability to maintain Clearbrief matter folders on the AAA's Azure cloud so that information will be protected by the same stringent security and privacy measures as our case management systems. Data security has always been a top priority for AAA, and we remain fully committed to ensuring the highest level of protection for all client information. Nothing leaves our organization—everything is safeguarded behind our firewalls.
Q: Do you see ethical implications with neutrals being encouraged to use AI in any sort of decision-making or award drafting?
Eric Dill: It's important to emphasize that arbitration remains a party-driven process, and while Clearbrief is optional, we expect high adoption—likely 60% or more—due to its efficiency and quality benefits. Providing our panelists with cutting-edge tools reinforces the AAA's leadership in ADR, ensuring our highly qualified arbitrators and mediators remain at the forefront of the field. A common misconception is that Clearbrief replaces arbitrators' decision-making, but that's not the case. It doesn't deliberate or influence outcomes; it simply enhances efficiency by generating timelines, simplifying fact-checking, verifying citations, standardizing formatting, and improving award quality. It's a tool to support arbitrators, not replace their expertise.
Cindy Rumney: If the parties have concerns about the use of AI, that's something that they can raise, and it would be addressed early on in the process. Panelists must inform the parties if they plan to use Clearbrief to enhance efficiency and streamline the arbitration or mediation process. At that point, the parties have the option to notify their case manager if they prefer not to have Clearbrief involved in any aspect of their case. AAA would communicate that feedback to the panelist, making it clear that Clearbrief cannot be used for that particular matter. By partnering with Clearbrief, we're equipping our panelists with advanced AI tools to enhance efficiency and quality in arbitration and mediation. Many sole practitioners might not seek out these technologies on their own, so this initiative allows them to stay at the forefront of innovation. Just as law students once gained free access to LexisNexis and Westlaw while firms still relied on massive law libraries, legal research has now gone fully digital. The evolution of tools is inevitable, and Clearbrief represents the next step in advancing ADR and legal writing.
Bridget McCormack: Nothing is as important as ensuring our process is ethical and fair. How AI is incorporated into every aspect of our process must align with that commitment. AI can power efficiency, but neutrals must exercise independent judgment and uphold our standards of fairness, impartiality and confidentiality. We provide robust training and guidance to ensure AI tools are used responsibly and ethically. Excellent AI governance will allow us all to embrace innovation while safeguarding the integrity of the process.
Q: What future developments or features are planned for Clearbrief to further support ADR professionals?
Jacqueline Schafer: Some of our most important work right now is expanding on our user interface improvements and training offerings for arbitration users. We are putting a lot of thought into how users who may not be used to using technology or are hesitant about generative AI can get comfortable using Clearbrief. Our platform offers a variety of tools that are not generative AI (and all features are clearly marked) - so that users can choose which tools they want to try depending on their comfort level.
Eric Dill: Cindy and I have several technical enhancements on our radar for the AAA panel, including the potential development of an electronic conflicts database, though the specific application has yet to be determined. We're also delivering robust performance tools to our panelists, implementing data-driven decision-making processes, and utilizing systems like applicant tracking platforms to optimize panelist retention. In short, we're integrating technology to modernize what has traditionally been a somewhat outdated process, ensuring it meets the demands of today's environment.