Arbitration in life science and cannabis sectors both domestically and internationally have reached new highs. The AAA 2019 Annual Report indicates that the largest claim by industry was in life sciences with a claim of $1 billion, whereas the cannabis sector represented the largest increases in caseload by industry at 225%. www.adr.org. The trend continued last year with another increase of 176% as cannabis cases grew from 26 matters in 2019 to 46 in 2020. Last year, the Life Science and Cannabis sector accounted for over 200 cases at the AAA. Some of the reasons for the increase in arbitrations in the life sciences sector are attributable to more licensing and research and development collaborations. The typical disputes arising under life science contracts often include complex licensing or joint venture agreements; disagreements over development, licensing, marketing of a particular drug or product; change in control provision resulting from merger/acquisition; investor disputes; and investor state arbitrations. A carefully drafted ADR clause is critical to have a dispute design system that serves your needs.