Building the Future of ADR: How the AAA® Strengthens Law School Partnerships for Tomorrow’s Legal Leaders

By Caitlin Saint-Jean

The success of many American Arbitration Association® (AAA) initiatives relies heavily on building strong relationships with academic institutions. American Arbitration Association employees, such as Elizabeth Bain, Harold Coleman and Greg Kochansky, play pivotal roles in these efforts. Bain has consistently attended industry conferences like the Association of American Law School (AALS) Annual Meeting to showcase the AAA’s innovations and build deeper connections with students and faculty. Coleman’s work with the University of Kentucky Brandeis School of Law exemplifies our focus on practical education, while Kochansky’s leadership in our Suffolk University Law School partnership further highlights our commitment to innovative dispute resolution methods. This interview is part of our ongoing series that highlights the contributions of AAA employees in advancing our mission and initiatives.

Can you provide an overview of what you’re working on right now?

Elizabeth Bain (Director of Publications and Law School Alliances): I regularly attend industry conferences such as the AALS’ held throughout the year to showcase what the AAA is doing and raise awareness of our work. This includes demonstrating tools and focusing on building and strengthening relationships with both students and faculty.

Harold Coleman (Senior Vice President, Professional Education and Development): I’m currently working with the University of Kentucky Brandeis School of Law to prepare future arbitrators and mediators by offering to third-year law students an adapted version of our "Mediator Essentials" course. This practitioner-based course will provide practical mediation training without being simplified for law school.

Greg Kochansky (Vice President, Thought Leadership): The AAA-ICDR Institute^TM just embarked on a three-year partnership with Suffolk Law School to support a student-run ODR Innovation Clinic set to launch in spring 2025. Suffolk Law is currently hiring a program director who will collaborate with students to develop an online dispute resolution program. The initiative, supported by our colleagues at ODR.com, who are providing a licensed beta version of its platform, will assist Massachusetts residents resolve low-contest divorces through mediation rather than in court.

Bridget McCormack (President and CEO): Our approach is simple: building relationships across law schools seeds more innovation and new approaches to better dispute resolution. We are creating long-term partnerships to enhance the field and our service.

Q: Can you describe your role in fostering connections between the AAA and law schools?

Elizabeth Bain: At the conferences, people will approach us with curiosity, asking what the AAA does and what it’s about. It is my job to take that moment and explain our organization while demonstrating, for example, why our product, ClauseBuilder® AI, is a powerful tool that could benefit their schools. From there, the conversations are very organic—we may not immediately know their specific needs, but it turns into a collaborative process where we work together to align our goals.

Harold Coleman: I will be overseeing the adaptation of our 40-hour basic mediation course, typically offered to practitioners transitioning into mediation, to suit third-year law students. The course structure and timing will need to be adjusted and spread out over several days. However, students will gain hands-on experience in the key processes of mediation and develop the skills needed to assist parties in facilitated negotiations, which, at its core, is what mediation is all about.

Greg Kochansky: This project is a team effort that brings together the AAA; our ODR.com colleagues; and an incredible group of legal scholars, administrators, and technologists at Suffolk Law. There is a lot for the AAA to contribute, in terms of planning, coordination, and advising on the substance of the clinical program and the technology platform that it will design and manage. I will be involved in the project in a variety of ways, but documenting and giving big-picture context to this work will, I hope, be my core contribution. The Institute’s involvement puts us in a special position to produce true thought leadership that drives a broad conversation on the role of ADR in enhancing access to justice.

Bridget McCormack: I take an active role in building these relationships. I have taught in law schools (Yale, Michigan, Penn) for 28 years and just finished my term as chair of the ABA Council on Legal Education and Admission to the Bar. I care deeply about lawyer formation and building a future of legal professionals who see better solutions to problems. If I can personally make a difference in any law school relationship, I do whatever the team needs.

Q: Can you talk about the importance of building relationships with law schools?

Elizabeth Bain: The future of law starts with the students, and what better way to prepare them than by introducing more alternative dispute resolution into their education? Law students thrive when given the opportunity to gain real-world experience, and ADR offers a perfect platform for that. By integrating comprehensive ADR training and hands-on experience in arbitration and mediation, we can inspire and equip the next generation of lawyers to succeed in this exciting and ever-growing field. We start with the students because they are the future of the industry.

Harold Coleman: By forming this alliance with law schools, we aim to create a new generation of AAA ambassadors—future professionals who will be exposed to, familiar with and aligned with the AAA-ICDR brand. This exposure increases the likelihood that they will use our services, speak positively about the AAA and even promote us. Many of them may eventually meet the qualifications to join our panels. It’s a fantastic way to engage with future ADR professionals while they’re still in school and build the next core of leaders in the field.

Bridget McCormack: Many law schools don’t have dedicated ADR curricula or offer a single course in mediation taught by an adjunct professor. This is a miss, in my view, given the need for innovation in dispute resolution. The civil justice system is a market failure, full stop. I would love to have every new law student ideating around new and better dispute resolution from the time they start law school.

Q: What excites you the most about these partnerships?

Elizabeth Bain: For me, it’s all about building relationships. It’s exciting to see how one simple conversation can lead to so much more. First impressions really do matter. I’ve experienced it firsthand—when I met people at AALS in January, I barely knew them, but by May, I had the confidence to say, “I remember you from AALS,” and the connection just picked up from there. I love the relationship-building aspect of this work. And it’s not just me—other AAA colleagues across the country are doing the same. It’s fun to realize that I can talk to someone in California, and others will say, “Oh yeah, I know them too!” Making those connections is truly the best part.

Harold Coleman: I’m excited about developing the hybrid model, though it’s time-intensive. I’m a strong advocate for recorded self-study, as it not only allows students to learn at their own pace, with the ability to pause and review material, but also ensures greater inclusion. This method accommodates diverse learning styles and schedules, making education more accessible to a broader range of students. Well-designed courses can last three to five years with minimal updates, providing both a cost-effective and inclusive solution for long-term learning.

Greg Kochansky: Two of the AAA-ICDR Institute’s focus areas are “access to justice” and “court-/government-connected ADR,” and our partnership with Suffolk Law speaks to both areas. What’s most exciting about this project—beyond the thousands of lives it will touch, of course—is that it can serve as a model for similar programs throughout the U.S., and not only in the area of divorce settlement. It will provide a technical blueprint, a roadmap for bringing together a wide variety of stakeholders who care about more efficient administration of justice, and a compelling narrative that keeps people talking—and gets them excited to build.

Bridget McCormack: What excites me most is the opportunity to shape the future of ADR. These collaborations give us the opportunity to spark the future dispute resolution architects—to give them a chance to see that the way we have always done things doesn’t have to be the way we always do things. These partnerships also foster a shared commitment to access to justice, ensuring more people benefit from fair, efficient resolution processes. The potential for innovation around better dispute resolution energizes me.

Q: What challenges have you faced in implementing or expanding the program?

Elizabeth Bain: I was really eager to connect with as many schools as possible, so managing the follow-ups and prioritizing them became key. It’s important to ensure that our goals align with what each school needs at the moment while also considering how the AAA can best meet those needs. It’s all about staying focused on the schools’ priorities and finding ways we can effectively support them.

Harold Coleman: The biggest challenge is transforming our current five-day in-person course into a hybrid format, where 24 of the 40 hours will be pre-recorded and asynchronous. I’ll collaborate with Brandeis School of Law faculty to record discrete modules, like the 90-minute segment on dispute resolution processes, allowing students to complete this before the 16 hours of live experiential practicum. During the live sessions in Kentucky, I’ll lead mediation simulations with faculty observing and coaching. Students will take on various roles, and after each simulation, faculty will provide feedback. We’ll conclude with a plenary debrief, where mediators share their challenges and lessons learned, fostering a collaborative learning environment. This structure will involve four simulations over four hours based on actual mediation cases.

Bridget McCormack: One challenge in expanding our law school partnerships is ensuring ADR education evolves with the changing legal landscape. As technology enables new options for dispute resolution, we want to make sure students have access to these changes and law schools aren’t always focused on the current practice norms and hurdles.

Q: What are the long-term goals of your program?

Elizabeth Bain: Since launching in January 2024, our focus has been on expanding ADR education in law schools across the country. Our goal is simple: to collaborate with more schools, introduce students to the world of ADR and ensure that ADR education becomes an essential part of their curriculum. As a nonprofit, AAA is committed to providing these resources and training tools at no cost, making it easier for institutions to enrich their programs. Together, we’re shaping a future where law students are better equipped with practical ADR knowledge and skills.

Greg Kochansky: The program aims to impact how justice is served in these cases but, from the standpoint of students specifically, the goal is learning through experience. Traditional classroom learning has its place, but interacting with real clients facing actual legal challenges is invaluable for law students’ professional development. It is also an opportunity for them to see how ADR can play out in a practical setting. Gaining hands-on experience helps to focus students and jump-start their careers, setting them on a path to make a real difference in the world in the decades to come.

Harold Coleman: Our goal is for students who complete the mediation training intensive to automatically qualify for external programs, such as court-connected or community-based mediation, either during their third year or soon after graduation. In some states, bar admission is required, so students would need to pass the bar first. This would fulfill the academic component, serving as one metric of success. Brandeis and other law schools may also track metrics like the number of students completing the program or its impact on job opportunities. We’re excited to integrate our 40-hour practitioner training into the law school, with discussions about opening it to local lawyers interested in transitioning to mediation.

Bridget McCormack: Our long-term goal is to build better dispute resolution for everyone by igniting the creativity and passion of law students early in their careers. We think everyone should have options when they have to resolve disputes—making ADR processes abundant requires professional buy in. We want to build that buy in.

Q: What are the benefits you see coming out of these partnerships?

Elizabeth Bain: I think it’s creating these strong relationships with the schools and faculty. We want them to feel valued, heard and understood when we engage in future conversations. The academic community is surprisingly small, and people often move between institutions. If you have a poor relationship at one school, it can follow you to another. That’s why it’s so important to maintain and nurture these connections over time. Keeping the relationship alive ensures we’re always on the same page and fosters trust and collaboration across the academic landscape.

Greg Kochansky: This program creates a structured workflow for divorcing parties to negotiate details, particularly financial arrangements, in an equitable manner. It’s an alternative to going to court, which often requires hiring lawyers and finding time on busy court dockets. By using an online platform with self-help tools, parties can guide themselves through the process. While the ODR Innovation Clinic will provide support to users, the platform will empower them to work through the steps independently, making the process more efficient and cost-effective.

Harold Coleman: We are providing education, fostering leadership in ADR and equipping both practitioners and the public with conflict management skills. We believe that sharing knowledge focused on inclusive resolution has great value, not only for resolving litigated cases but also for how we handle relationships in various settings—whether professional, familial or social. By enhancing our ability to manage conflicts effectively, we improve overall interactions. We’ve already seen, through peer mediation programs in elementary schools, that when children learn conflict resolution early, they become more productive and better at managing relationships throughout their academic and personal lives.

Bridget McCormack: The ultimate benefit we are aiming for is changing the norms around dispute resolution. Training the next generation of legal professionals with practical ADR skills and training them to approach civil justice problems with an innovator’s mindset could change the world. We send law students into practice with more tools in their toolbox when they start to serve clients.

Q: How do you see these programs evolving in the future?

Harold Coleman: Honestly, I can see this becoming a blueprint for other schools, easily replicable with local faculty and AAA mediators. This hybrid format has great potential for widespread adoption.

Greg Kochansky: The impact will be multifaceted. First, students will gain hands-on experience in a type of law they may pursue in their careers. The initial cohort will also learn how to design an online dispute resolution system, from key decisions about user experience to integrating human assistance. They’ll become advocates for the process they helped create, using their experience to educate others. As they progress in their careers, they can also serve as evangelists on the benefits of online dispute resolution, even inspiring other court systems to explore similar programs. Ultimately, the goal is to create a model that extends beyond Massachusetts for broader implementation.

Bridget McCormack: I see these programs evolving as the tools for building better dispute resolution evolve, which is rapidly. We are eager to partner with law schools interested in building technology solutions to dispute resolution and I suspect that is a growing market.