Professor Amy J. Schmitz has been involved in moving the ABA Section of Dispute Resolution Spring Conference online, and will play a significant role in the conference. She will discuss “’Decoding’ Ethical Design and Practice in Resolving Smart Contract & Blockchain-Related Disputes,” on May 18. In this session, she will explain how to more effectively evaluate the reliability and enforceability of smart contracts built in the blockchain. She and her panel will also explore how to make more informed choices/counsel clients more effectively regarding disputes related to blockchain-based contracts, including the systems that have been created to resolve them. On May 19 she will present as part of the “Magazine Roundtable: Authors’ Reflections.”

She will lead a meeting as the co-chair of the ODR Task Force and as the co-chair of the Technology Committee of the ABA DR Section. Professor Schmitz also will lead an online discussion of “Theory of Change: Changes to the Profession in the New Normal,” discussing how COVID-19 has impacted dispute resolution.  For more information on the conference and the schedule, including the presentations, meetings and discussion led by Professor Schmitz, see https://www.americanbar.org/content/dam/aba/events/dispute_resolution/2020-spring-conference/online-conference-program.pdf.