Amy J. Schmitz is an arbitrator, mediator, and dispute resolution specialist based in Ohio where she is a professor at The Ohio State University Moritz College of Law and Program on Dispute Resolution as the John Deaver Drinko-Baker & Hostetler Endowed Chair in Law. She is a co-director of the Translational Data Analytics Institute's Responsible Data Science Research Community of Practice and is also working with the Program on Data Governance and the Divided Community Projectall at The Ohio State University. Before teaching at Ohio State, Professor Schmitz taught at the University of Missouri School of Law and Center for the Study of Dispute Resolution as the Elwood L. Thomas Missouri Endowed Professor of Law, starting in 2016. Previously, she was a professor at the University of Colorado School of Law for more than 16 years. Prior to teaching, Schmitz practiced law with large law firms in Seattle and Minneapolis, with a specialty in arbitration. Prior to practice, she served as a law clerk for the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit.
Schmitz teaches courses in arbitration, contracts, lawyering and problem-solving, online dispute resolution (ODR), AI, data analytics and the law, international arbitration, social media and conflict, and consumer law. She has been heavily involved in arbitration and ODR teaching and research for a long time and is a fellow of the National Center for Technology and Dispute Resolution and was the co-chair of the ABA Technology Committee and the ODR Task Force of the Dispute Resolution Section.
Schmitz has delivered presentations on various topics throughout the world and is regularly interviewed and quoted on arbitration and contract law in the mediathis includes The New York Times, Washington Post, Forbes, Bloomberg, Economist, NPR, Wallethub, Kiplinger's, Bottom Line, Consumer Reports, Money Mag., NBC, ABC, and many others. Some of her awards include the Loyd E. Roberts Memorial Prize in the Administration of Justice (2021); the American Association of Law Schools Section Award for Technology, Law and Legal Education; the Conflict Prevention and Resolution Professional Best Short Article Award (Feb. 2020) and Outstanding Book Award (2023); Shook Hardy Bacon Best Publication Award (2017); four-time winner of the Sandgrund Award for Best Consumer Law Work; and the Calhoun Award for Outstanding Public Service at the University of Colorado.
Schmitz also hosts The Arbitration Conversation, a highly regarded podcast that has reached more than 100 webisodes, and more than 2018 audio podcasts, with more on the way. She also is a researcher with the ACT Project exploring AI and dispute resolution at the Cyberjustice Lab in Montreal. She has published more than 75 articles in law journals and books, is a co-author of a leading casebook, Resolving Disputes: Theory, Practice and Law (Aspen 2021); the new book with Tom Stipanowich, Arbitration: Practice, Policy and Law (Aspen 2022); and a book with C. Rule, The New Handshake: Online Dispute Resolution and the Future of Consumer Protection.
Schmitz also is a Fulbright Specialist, has been elected into the American Law Institute, and won Honorable Mention at the American Legal Technology Awards as an individual who has demonstrated success throughout their career in making a positive difference in the world as it relates to legal innovation. The author would like to dedicate this book to her sisters who have been a beacon for teaching, learning and great conversations.
