
Maya Markovich, the well-known access to justice (A2J) campaigner, has joined the American Arbitration Association’s (AAA) International Centre for Dispute Resolution (ICDR) Institute.
The AAA said that she will be a VP and ‘help drive the AAA-ICDR Institute’s thought leadership mission and strategic plan to transform dispute resolution, [and] expand access to justice’.
This will include supporting projects like the Suffolk Law ODR Innovation Clinic, and identifying partnership opportunities with courts, academic institutions, and other organizations.
Markovich has been at the Justice Technology Association (JTA), where she served as co-founder and executive director. However, Markovich will also continue to lead JTA’s mission to support justice tech entrepreneurs, with backing from the AAA as a new JTA strategic partner, the group said.
Markovich – who has been a keynote speaker at the Legal Innovators California conference (which returns to San Francisco, June 11 and 12) – commented: ‘Joining the AAA-ICDR Institute is an incredible opportunity to implement initiatives that improve access and fairness in dispute resolution and the legal field.’
Bridget McCormack, AAA-ICDR president and CEO, concluded: ‘Maya is a multidimensional leader who is passionate about legal industry transformation. Her unwavering commitment to justice and equity perfectly aligns with the AAA-ICDR Institute’s mission, and we are thrilled to welcome Maya to the team.’
And for those who are not up to speed on US arbitration, the AAA is a not-for-profit group that has supported more than 8 million ADR cases since it started just under 100 years ago, back in 1926. You can find more info here.
Last week they also launched the AAAi chat book for case preparation and presentation, a pioneering AI-enabled handbook, formulated in collaboration with EdTek. And last year they bought digital platform ODR.com, in what was a first for the organisation.
This is part of a broader move into bringing aboard more legal tech and AI technology into the ADR process.
(P.S. the headline wins a prize for most acronyms…! 🙂