In the first edition of The Legal Industry Reviews Canada, Allan Stitt, President and CEO of ADR Chambers, comments about arbitration, use of technologies to optimize processes and some of the upcoming challenges for the profession.

Allan J. Stitt is the President and CEO of ADR Chambers. Mediator, arbitrator, negotiation consultant, and ADR systems design specialist; he has arbitrated numerous commercial cases in which entities like the National Transportation Agency and the Ontario Farm Products Marketing Board have been involved.

He was a Canadian delegate to UNCITRAL for negotiations leading up to the Singapore Convention for the enforcement of international mediation agreements; and later for preparing the Model Expedited Arbitration Rules for international disputes.

In this interview, the expert talks about arbitration, use of technologies to optimize processes and some of the challenges that the profession will face in the future.

Allan, ADR Chambers is one of the largest providers of private arbitration and mediation in the world. What has been the key to success?

The main reason for our success is the skill and makeup of our mediation and arbitration panel members. We are honored that some of the best legal minds in Canada have chosen to work with us to do mediations and arbitrations. We are also extremely fortunate to have a skilled and dedicated staff to assist the panel members, including lawyers who assist the arbitrators in all aspects of the arbitration (including drafting procedural orders, editing awards, etc.).

There are several companies around the world using new technologies to offer ADR services. What are you doing at ADR Chambers to face this new era?

The post-covid world is very different from the pre-covid world. Zoom mediations and arbitrations are now the norm. Individuals no longer travel for a day to have a mediation (or be a witness in an arbitration). We have had to adapt our practices to meet the needs of the users, and all of our mediators and arbitrators are now comfortable using Zoom.

As for the future, we are exploring how Artificial Intelligence can be used to reduce the costs and time of resolving disputes. We hope to make some exciting announcements around the use of AI to help arbitrators over the course of the next 12 months.

Canada has been a pioneer in digital justice, mainly thanks to the Civil Resolution Tribunal in British Columbia. Based on the results of that initiative, do you see in the future an online court handling big claims? What should happen first? 

Every year, there is an increased use of technology to resolve disputes. I think that the next logical step in the progression is that the private ADR world will figure out creative ways to make resolving disputes even faster and cheaper, and will roll out new technology that will take over the dispute resolution landscape. Once the technology is proven and well-accepted, the court system will incorporate it as well.

In 2021, UNCITRAL adopted the Expedited Arbitration Rules, in whose preparation you participated as a Canadian delegate. After more than a year of their implementation, do you have a diagnosis about its performance? Have they had the expected outcomes?

I was honoured to be part of the UNCITRAL Working Group that brought in the Expedited Arbitration Rules. The rules give disputants an option to use a process that results in a binding decision quickly and with a lower cost than regular arbitration. In fact, the UNCITRAL Working Group is now working on creating some options for parties who want an even faster process than is provided in the Expedited Rules.

In terms of uptake, I don’t have any statistics on the use of the rules (since those who use the rules don’t report to anyone so it’s not possible to keep statistics about the use of the rules). My suspicion is that it will take a number of years for lawyers to get used to rules and to recognize their benefits, but I have no doubt that these rules will allow for faster and less expensive arbitrations.

Moving to another issue. Our profession is facing huge challenges ahead. The way legal services are requested and provided is changing fast, and it seems that not everyone has noticed. Technologies and globalization have had a say in the process, and it is likely that many things will be changed forever. In that context, what would be your advice to young students or professionals that are starting their journey?

My father (who was a lawyer) said that the biggest change to the legal practice was the photocopy machine. Then came the telex and things changed even more. Then computers replaced typewriters. Then voicemail changed things even more. And then, of course, email and texting. 

But I predict that those changes will pale in comparison to the changes we will see in the legal profession in the next 25 years. Artificial Intelligence will feel like a threat to the very core of what lawyers do. But those who see it as a threat and fight it will be left on the sidelines; those who embrace it and figure out how to add value to the new way things are done will thrive. So my advice to young lawyers is to embrace all new technologies and see how they can help their clients benefit from the new technologies, and not to fight their introduction into the practice of law.

Do you think that law schools should adapt their programmes to face this new reality, or they just have to keep doing what they are doing?

Legal education definitely has to adapt to the new way law is and will be practiced. It won’t just be changing the way law is taught, but completely revamping the way law is taught. And those who like the status quo and push back against the changes will be left on the sidelines.

Moving to a more personal space, it is known your interest in sports and cinema, and your involvement in the production of several movies during the last decade. How do you manage your time to duly deliver in all fronts at the same time?

No matter how much time we spend at the office, we all have leisure time. Some of us get re-charged by watching TV or taking a nap, but I get re-charged by focusing on one of my hobbies. So it’s not so much a function of spending less time at work, but rather spending my leisure time focusing on the things that energize me, whether that be movies, sports memorabilia, or art.