Are you competing at the Annual Willem C. Vis International Commercial Arbitration Moot and do you want to take part in an ICC Vis Pre-Moot? The International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) organizes annual Pre-Moots in both Paris and in New York. Why participate in the ICC Vis Pre-Moot?• To prepare for the Annual Willem C. Vis International Commercial Arbitration Moot• To measure up against and interact with other students from a wide range of different jurisdictions and legal systems• To receive comments from and interact with arbitrators from different professional, cultural and legal backgrounds• To practice and improve your advocacy skills•
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Permission to Say No?
Permission to Say No? by Yujing ZhangImagine a system in which a trial court cannot refuse to enforce an arbitral award on its own. Before saying no, the court must send its proposed decision up the judicial hierarchy for review, sometimes all the way to the highest court in the country. China has used versions of that system for three decades. It is known as the prior reporting system.For readers accustomed to a model in which a first-instance court decides and an unhappy party appeals, the structure is unusual. But it was created to solve a concrete problem: local courts sometimes
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How Much Can You Teach with One Mediation Story?
I recently had a rewarding experience discussing a short story, What Happened? A Mediation Story Featuring RPS Coach, with Roger Greenberg’s class on mediation and arbitration at South Texas College of Law Houston. The students’ reactions illustrated how this story can be a valuable teaching tool, portraying a realistic conflict that led to mediation. The story is under 40 pages, and students can read it in about an hour. Unlike the bizarre and often highly unrealistic portrayals of mediation in popular culture, this story offers a realistic picture of how mediation actually works.The story follows a commercial dispute between
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China’s Labor Arbitration
Continuing on our series regarding arbitration in China:China’s Labor Arbitration by Wenwen Ding and Binyu HeTo an American labor arbitrator, “labor arbitration” usually means a private process created by a collective bargaining agreement. The parties select a neutral, present a grievance, and receive a final award subject to very limited judicial review. In China, the same term describes something quite different.Chinese labor arbitration is statutory rather than contractual, mandatory rather than voluntary, and closely integrated with the government’s labor administration. It covers individual as well as collective labor disputes and ordinarily serves as a gateway to court rather than a
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Death and Taxes and Zombies
On the eve of Halloween, nothing is more fun than to revisit Death and Taxes and Zombies, an article my ASU colleague Adam Chodorow wrote in 2013. No, it has nothing to do with dispute resolution – but it’s a lot of fun. Here’s the abstractThe U.S. stands on the precipice of a financial disaster, and Congress has done nothing but bicker. Of course, I refer to the coming day when the undead walk the earth, feasting on the living. A zombie apocalypse will create an urgent need for significant government revenues to protect the living, while at the
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Are AI tools helping us move beyond longstanding stereotypes or are they giving them a new platform?
Are AI tools helping us move beyond longstanding stereotypes or are they giving them a new platform?This past Sunday, the New York Times ran an article, “Marissa Mayer Ran Yahoo. She’s Back With A.I. She Thinks Women Will Love,” emphasizing the concerns of gender imbalance in AI, from women’s underrepresentation in leadership to the gendered stereotypes these tools may reinforce.These concerns extend beyond how AI tools are designed to how they advise users. In the recent article, “AI Advice Reinforces Traditional Gender Roles,” researchers Nadja Born, Jared R. Curhan, and Hannah Riley Bowles found that AI career advice was not
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Why I Write About AI
A friend recently observed that people often perceive me as a proponent of using generative artificial intelligence (AI), as if I think that everyone should use it regardless of their needs, interests, or whether they use it responsibly.But that’s not how I see myself.I am a proponent of helping people create value, improve their work, and accomplish things that they couldn’t do without AI.I’ve written quite a bit about AI for two reasons. Using it has been one of the most satisfying experiences of my life, and I want to help others discover benefits they may miss because of concerns
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IntLaw Investment Arbitration Moot–new competition!
On behalf of the AALS ADR section, I am happy to let everyone know that the section is delighted to be a supporting partner of the inaugural IntLaw Investment Arbitration Moot, taking place at the International Arbitration Centre in London in 18-22 February 2027. This is a new international competition for law students.As noted by the organizers, “The Inaugural Edition of the IntLaw Moot will bring together law students from all over the world to develop their written and oral advocacy skills in investment arbitration. The IntLaw Moot provides a valuable opportunity for students to put their knowledge into practice
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Crowdsourced ODR
The China and ADR Design series, organized by Rick Bales (Ohio Northern), explores developments and innovations in Chinese arbitration and what we can learn about them here in the US. The posts examine a range of topics, from the growth of arbitration institutions to the use of artificial intelligence, with a focus on the larger questions of ADR design and practice. The latest installment turns to crowdsourced online dispute resolution, another example of how technology is expanding the possibilities for resolving disputes.Yun Zhao and Zhiming XiaoImagine that a buyer and seller disagree over a transaction on an online marketplace. Instead
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How Law Schools Are Teaching Students to Use AI Responsibly
There has been a lot of discussion about whether artificial intelligence (AI) will help or harm law students. The National Law Review’s article, The 2026 Top 50 Legal Innovators in Academia, provides a useful contribution to this discussion.The article describes faculty and administrators at law schools across the country who are teaching students how to use AI thoughtfully and responsibly. Several schools now require AI instruction for all first-year students, including Case Western Reserve, Chicago, Mississippi Christian, UNLV, and Suffolk.AI has enormous potential to help people create value, improve their work, and accomplish things they otherwise couldn’t. Realizing these
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Call for Papers: Harvard Negotiation Law Review – Due Jan. 4, 2027
This call for papers just landed in my inbox, so I thought I’d pass it along in case it’s of interest to others.I don’t recall the Harvard Negotiation Law Review having issued a call for papers before, but I may be mistaken. One thing I did notice is that they no longer appear to be accepting submissions through Scholastica, as the call suggests. A quick search of Scholastica’s journal directory confirmed that they aren’t listed there.In any event, good submission luck !—————The Harvard Negotiation Law Review (HNLR) is now accepting submissions for its upcoming annual print issue, which will go
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Tech-Trust Nexus: A White Paper on the Future of Online Dispute Resolution
Conferences often produce engaging conversations and new connections. The best ones also produce ideas that continue to evolve and reach new audiences long after the final session ends. With that in mind, Eleni Kosta (Tilburg Law School, NL), Diana M. Bowman (Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology, AUS)*, and I are pleased to share a new white paper capturing the proceedings of our July 2025 conference, Tech-Trust Nexus: Revolutionizing Online Dispute Resolution hosted by the Tilburg Institute for Law, Technology, and Society (TILT) at Tilburg University.The conference brought together scholars and practitioners to examine how emerging technologies, particularly artificial intelligence, are
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Getting Beyond Simple Stories About AI
Discussions about artificial intelligence (AI) often fall into simple, polarized stories. AI will bring great prosperity or bring the end of civilization. It enhances human capabilities or destroys them. People who use it are innovative – or lazy, dishonest, or intellectually deficient.People in the dispute resolution field should recognize this pattern. We have a long history of creating simple binary categories and attaching strong value judgments to them. Consider familiar distinctions between “facilitative” and “evaluative” mediation and “interest-based” and “positional” negotiation. Real dispute resolution practice is much more complicated and contextual than these traditional dichotomous models suggest.Similarly, some folks in
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Ad Hoc Arbitration in China
While non-administered or “ad hoc” arbitration is relatively common in the United States, China is just beginning to explore its use. This post explores the issues related to ad hoc arbitration in China.Ad Hoc Arbitration in ChinaWen DaiWhat happens when a legal system built almost entirely around arbitration institutions decides to let some parties arbitrate without one? China is beginning to find out. After three decades in which Mainland arbitration was essentially institutional by design, the 2025 Arbitration Law creates a narrow but significant opening for ad hoc arbitration.The change is small in statutory terms, but it tests a much
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Arbitration in China – How Distinct Should It Be From Existing Norms
Another post in our series on arbitration evolution in China. This post explores the question of how far should a system move toward internationally familiar arbitration norms while retaining domestic institutional choices? China’s New Arbitration LawSong Lianbin and Huang YiChina’s first comprehensive rewrite of its Arbitration Law in thirty years changes more than technical rules. It expands party autonomy, gives formal recognition to the arbitral seat and online proceedings, cautiously opens the door to ad hoc arbitration, and broadens the preservation measures available while a dispute is pending.The amended law was adopted on September 12, 2025, and took effect on
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Can the Arbitrator Also Mediate?
Another blog in our series on Chinese arbitration!Can the Arbitrator Also Mediate?Jialin LiMany mediators and arbitrators are trained to keep those roles separate. A mediator may hear confidential information, test weaknesses, and float possible compromises; an arbitrator must decide on the record and remain visibly impartial. China has long been more willing to combine those functions, including allowing the arbitral tribunal itself to mediate a dispute before returning to adjudication if settlement fails.That practice can make Western neutrals uneasy. But its persistence in China is not simply a cultural curiosity. It offers a useful test of a broader ADR question:
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