Sep 9, 2026 · 30 min · 11 segments
Bridget McCormack, President and CEO of the American Arbitration Association, joins us to unpack what happens when smart contracts execute, assets move on-chain, and people still end up in conflict…
Bridget McCormackGuestSilvia SanchezHostSo the American Arbitration Association has launched a Web3 panel specifically for disputes involving blockchain, smart contracts, digital assets and this world of decentralized systems.
And the question is, Why now? What were you seeing that told you, okay, we need a specialized infrastructure for this?
Yeah, I mean, we try to always stay ahead of where the market's going so that we have neutrals, panelists, who can be, you know, really good choices for parties when a dispute arises.
I mean, you know, for years, we had to think about like who's going to resolve our blockchain disputes and we sort of were able to get away with we'll figure it out um and and that was tolerable when the stakes were speculative but um not not anymore i think tokenized real world assets are in production you know stablecoin payment volume is is is real and agents are transacting autonomously I mean, we probably are all even experimenting with that ourselves now.
And so when those transactions break down, the questions are familiar commercial questions like contract formation and asset control and governance, but the evidence and the environment are highly technical.
So we built this panel, this Web3 panel of arbitrators who can work natively in that environment, people from law practice, technology companies, academia who understand both the background doctrine that applies, but also the systems.
Not that we get to invent law, but what we needed was decision makers who can read the record that this particular ecosystem produces.
AND SO PARTIES ARE GOING TO CONTINUE TO NEED ARBITRATION AGREEMENTS IN THESE NEW LINES OF BUSINESS, BUT THEY WANT TO HAVE CONFIDENCE THAT WHEN THEY HAVE A DISPUTE, THEY'RE GOING TO BE ABLE TO HAVE A PERSON DECIDING THEIR CASE WHO UNDERSTANDS WHAT A SMART CONTRACT DOES AND WHAT AN ON-CHAIN RECORD PROVES AND MAYBE JUST AS IMPORTANTLY WHAT IT DOESN'T PROVE.
And that's a huge part, which is also, I think, the thesis for why, for example, projects also like what we're doing exist.
In our case, regulation, but also in the process of arbitration, making sure that those who are making these decisions or stepping in understand what the technology does, what it is, what it isn't.
And these disputes might also be already raising questions around things like governance, cybersecurity, transaction records, and contract formation.
So the American Arbitration Association has launched a Web3 panel specifically for disputes involving blockchain, smart contracts, digital assets and this world of decentralized systems.
And the question is, Why now? What were you seeing that told you, okay, we need a specialized infrastructure for this?
Yeah, I mean, we try to always stay ahead of where the market's going so that we have neutrals, panelists, who can be, you know, really good choices for parties when a dispute arises.
I mean, you know, for years, we had to think about like who's going to resolve our blockchain disputes and we sort of were able to get away with we'll figure it out um and and that was tolerable when the stakes were speculative but um not not anymore i think tokenized real world assets are in production you know stablecoin payment volume is is is real and agents are transacting autonomously I mean, we probably are all even experimenting with that ourselves now.
And so when those transactions break down, the questions are familiar commercial questions like contract formation and asset control and governance, but the evidence and the environment are highly technical.
So we built this panel, this Web3 panel of arbitrators who can work natively in that environment, people from law practice, technology companies, academia who understand both the background doctrine that applies, but also the systems.
Not that we get to invent law, but what we needed was decision makers who can read the record that this particular ecosystem produces.
AND SO PARTIES ARE GOING TO CONTINUE TO NEED ARBITRATION AGREEMENTS IN THESE NEW LINES OF BUSINESS, BUT THEY WANT TO HAVE CONFIDENCE THAT WHEN THEY HAVE A DISPUTE, THEY'RE GOING TO BE ABLE TO HAVE A PERSON DECIDING THEIR CASE WHO UNDERSTANDS WHAT A SMART CONTRACT DOES AND WHAT AN ON-CHAIN RECORD PROVES AND MAYBE JUST AS IMPORTANTLY WHAT IT DOESN'T PROVE.
And that's a huge part, which is also, I think, the thesis for why, for example, projects also like what we're doing exist.
In our case, regulation, but also in the process of arbitration, making sure that those who are making these decisions or stepping in understand what the technology does, what it is, what it isn't.
And these disputes might also be already raising questions around things like governance, cybersecurity, transaction records, and contract formation.
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