Think back just 10 years ago. You were taking grainy pictures with your flip phone and, if you were trendy, you were posting in your MySpace account. Even if you had TiVo, you still had to wait at least a week to watch each episode of your favorite show. In just the last decade, the iPhone was introduced, Facebook went public, and ecommerce overtook retail. You can now binge-watch your favorite show at any hour of the day or night, get a private car service in seconds and have food or consumer goods delivered on demand. Drones are delivering packages and cars are starting to drive themselves.

Technology is advancing at rapid speeds, and it is impacting every industry. Even old school industries, like construction, are becoming technical with laser scanning and building information modeling. Gone are the days of tape measures. Now contractors are digitally capturing dimensions and spatial relationships using laser technology. You can walk through your virtual building and make changes before it is even constructed. The professional services industry is seeing similar advancements. Process automation is becoming the norm. Robots are now performing basic accounting functions and preparing tax returns. Our era now has voice-powered personal assistants and autonomously powered self-driving vehicles.

The business world has rapidly embraced technology, and with advances in technology come more sophisticated disputes. We frequently see disputes over cybersecurity, privacy, information breaches, malware, stolen identities, application and software development and other technologies. Because these cases are complex, often requiring forensic analysis and expert testimony, litigation costs are significant. Thus, companies are frequently including alternative dispute resolution provisions in their agreements to mitigate costs and improve efficiency. They often look to mediation as an initial step in resolving their problems.