Digital Justice Technology and the Internet of Disputes

Improving access to justice has been an ongoing process, and on-demand justice should be a natural part of our increasingly on-demand society. What can we do for example when Facebook blocks our account, we're harassed on Twitter, discover that our credit report contains errors, or receive a negative review on Airbnb? How do we effectively resolve these and other such issues?

Digital Justice introduces the reader to new technological tools to resolve and prevent disputes bringing dispute resolution to cyberspace, where those who would never look to a court for assistance can find help for instance via a smartphone. The authors focus particular attention on five areas that have seen great innovation as well as large volumes of disputes: ecommerce, healthcare, social media, labor, and the courts. As conflicts escalate with the increase in innovation, the authors emphasize the need for new dispute resolution processes and new ways to avoid disputes, something that has been ignored by those seeking to improve access to justice in the past.

Ethan Katsh is Professor Emeritus of Legal Studies at the University of Massachusetts Amherst and Director, National Center for Technology and Dispute Resolution. He is one of the founders of the field of Online Dispute Resolution and has published widely in the law and technology and dispute resolution fields. He authored Law in a Digital World (Oxford, 1995); The Electronic Media and the Transformation of Law (Oxford, 1989); Online Dispute Resolution: Resolving Conflicts in Cyberspace (Co-authored with Janet Rifkin, 2001).

Orna Rabinovich-Einy is an associate professor (senior lecturer) at the Faculty of Law at the University of Haifa. Her areas of expertise are alternative dispute resolution, online dispute resolution, and civil procedure, with research focusing on the relationship between formal and informal justice systems, dispute resolution system design and the impact of technology on dispute resolution.