The American Arbitration Association has introduced a new Dispute Risk Management Portal (www.adr.org), business-to-business online procedures and a specialized BTB e-commerce Panel of Neutrals.
According to the New York-based conflict management and dispute resolution provider, the new portal, procedures and panel are designed to assess the potential for value/supply-chain disputes, prevent or contain conflicts and resolve disputes quickly and fairly if they occur.
AAA said with nearly $1.2 trillion spent in BTB e-commerce in 2000 and a projected amount of $4.8 trillion to be spent in the year 2004, business disputes are becoming inevitable and threaten to disrupt the continuity of the BTB value/supply chain.
The portal provides subscribers with access to the BTB e-commerce DRM community, allowing them to share documents and insights with their peers, find specific DRM information, search directories, and access the world's largest alternative dispute resolution library to assist in assessing, preventing and containing possible conflicts before they erupt.
For the general public it will also offer an online process for submission of BTB e-commerce disputes, management of BTB e-commerce cases including case management tools and services to resolve disputes through on-call mediation or online “documents-only” arbitration, as well as current events, announcements and information on BTB e-commerce dispute risk management.
Other offerings available through the site include claims and case management for BTB e-commerce disputes, combined with in-person processes administered by experienced case managers. AAA said the solution will serve as a “one-stop resource” for all dispute resolution needs and that the e-commerce group will also offer advisory services to educate and help organizations implement ongoing BTB dispute resolution and management programs, including how to move claims online.