American Arbitration Association Launches Online Clause Building Tool

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Dec 04, 2012, 09:00 ET

NEW YORK, Dec. 4, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- The American Arbitration Association® (AAA®) today launched ClauseBuilder, an online arbitration and mediation tool that assists individuals and organizations in drafting clear and effective arbitration and mediation agreements. ClauseBuilder, which can be found at www.ClauseBuilder.org, is the first tool of its kind to be offered by an Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) services provider.

The new tool provides parties with the AAA's standard arbitration agreement, in addition to an array of options parties may consider when crafting customized ADR clauses, including specifying the number of arbitrators; arbitrator qualifications; locale provisions; governing law; the duration of arbitration proceedings; and whether to use arbitration, mediation, or both.

"A well-written dispute resolution clause is the foundation of an effective dispute resolution process," said India Johnson, the AAA's Executive Vice President. "ClauseBuilder provides ADR users with an easy and efficient way to customize their contract clauses with time-tested language, based on court-tested AAA rules. That translates into an efficient dispute resolution process that saves time and money."

Eric Tuchmann, the AAA's General Counsel, says the AAA developed ClauseBuilder to respond to a consistent demand from parties, attorneys, companies, and other organizations for guidance on drafting arbitration and mediation agreements. "The American Arbitration Association believes that ClauseBuilder will provide a quick and efficient, self-guided process for drafting ADR clauses that are customized to parties' particular contracts and needs," he explained.

The current version of ClauseBuilder deals with commercial arbitration contracts. Future versions in development will address construction, international and employment contracts. ClauseBuilder enables users to develop pre-dispute ADR clauses to be included in contracts as well as clauses for existing disputes that parties would like to submit to arbitration or mediation. In addition to creating ADR clauses, ClauseBuilder will allow users to preview, edit, and archive their ADR agreements.

"As a leader in the field of ADR, the AAA is determined to assist parties in developing innovative and cost effective ways of resolving disputes. We worked hard to include as much functionality and as many options in ClauseBuilder as possible. Still, we will continue to enhance ClauseBuilder as we receive feedback," Ms. Johnson said.

About the American Arbitration Association
The global leader in conflict management since 1926, the American Arbitration Association is a not-for-profit, public service organization committed to the resolution of disputes through the use of arbitration, mediation, conciliation, negotiation, democratic elections and other voluntary procedures. In 2011, 187,596 cases were filed with the Association in a full range of matters including commercial, construction, labor, employment, insurance, international and claims program disputes. Through 22 offices in the United States, Mexico, and Singapore, the AAA provides a forum for the hearing of disputes, rules and procedures and a roster of impartial experts to resolve cases. Find more information online at www.adr.org.

SOURCE American Arbitration Association