Washington Arbitration Week 2026

JAMS is proud to sponsor Washington Arbitration Week 2026 taking place October 26–30, 2026, in Washington, D.C. The annual event brings together practitioners, arbitrators, academics, public officials, and other members of the international arbitration community for programming and discussions related to investment arbitration, international commercial arbitration, and public international law.

As part of this year's program, JAMS will host two sessions at the JAMS Washington, D.C. Resolution Center on Tuesday, October 27, including a 15-minute demo following the panels by Jus Mundi CEO and Founder, Jean-Remi Maistre.

Featured Panels:

Tuesday, October 27, 2026 - Lunch will be provided.

JAMS, 1050 K Street NW, Suite 800, Washington, D.C. 20001

12:00–1:15 PM - "The New Era of Mediation: Commercial and Investor-State Disputes in a Changing World"

Presented by Global Arbitration Mediation Academy (GAMA) and JAMS

Mediation is gaining ground in international dispute resolution. Commercial parties increasingly use it to manage cross-border risk, preserve business relationships, achieve flexible outcomes, and avoid termination of ongoing commercial projects and contracts. In parallel, in the investment world, for decades, arbitration was the default and often the only real path when an investor-state dispute arose. Yet, in 2022, ICSID rolled out its first set of rules of mediation of investment disputes, and some treaties in the Asia-Pacific region are increasingly requiring parties to attempt mediation before they can arbitrate, as a mandatory first step. With ICSID's caseload at record highs and ever-present focus over cost, duration of proceedings, and arbitrator independence, today mediation constitutes an alternative that cannot be overlooked. It has been successfully tried in a few cases, and for some investment disputes it can become a means of peaceful resolution, learning from the long road and often successful experience of mediation in commercial disputes. This panel examines mediation across both contexts, focusing on advocacy, process design, cultural and political considerations, and stakeholder management. Panelists will explore when mediation works, how it can complement arbitration in some disputes, and how it may be used to fully solve a commercial or investment dispute without going through an arbitration process. Through successful mediation experiences shared by our panelists, the session may identify key aspects to conduct a mediation in a commercial dispute, which may too be embraced in the investment context, may soften skepticism against mediation, and contribute to effectively solve disputes.

Moderator: Joe Matthews, Matthews Arbitration Chambers

Panelists:

• Harshitha Ram, GAMA
• Ambassador (Ret.) David Huebner, FCIArb, C.Arb, CollArb, Mediator & Arbitrator, JAMS - Los Angeles
• Ximena Bustamante, Pactum
• Anna Holloway, ICSID

1:25–2:40 PM - AI in the Tribunal Room: Tool, Risky Gadget, or Responsibility for Arbitrators?

Artificial intelligence (AI) can summarize records, organize evidence, assist with translations and transcripts, support legal research, help draft procedural documents and many other tasks. Nonetheless, at the exact same time, AI can also hallucinate, reproduce bias, compromise confidentiality, complicate the assessment of evidence, especially by creating fake and false documents, amongst other things. Since AI has already entered the tribunal room, now arbitrators and practitioners need to figure out how to control its use. AAA-ICDR’s announcement of an AI arbitrator, ICC’s work on AI governance in dispute resolution and emerging guidance on disclosure, confidentiality and independent judgment all point in the same direction: arbitrators and practitioners can no longer treat AI as an issue outside the scope of an arbitration tribunal. Whether used by counsel, experts, tribunal secretaries, institutions or arbitrators, AI raises due process questions that go to the legitimacy of the proceeding. This panel will ask what responsible AI use looks like from the arbitrator’s seat. Questions like the following will arise: Should tribunals disclose their use of AI tools? Should procedural orders regulate party use? What happens when evidence generated by AI is part of the record? Join us for a practical and candid discussion on whether AI is simply a tool, a risky gadget, part of the arbitrator’s professional responsibility, and how counsel, experts and arbitrators should handle it as an unavoidable factor of today’s world.

Moderator: Staci Gellman, Crowell & Moring LLP

Panelists:

• Sirshar Qureshi, PwC
• Jeffrey M. Senger, Esq., FCIArb, Arbitrator & Mediator JAMS
• Dr. Reza Eftekha, IUSCT
• Jasmine Chalashtori, Womble Bond & Dickinson

2:40-2:55 PM - The Future of Arbitrator Selection: A Live Demonstration
Presented by Jus Mundi
What if the way we search for arbitrators is about to change? Immediately following the “AI in the Tribunal Room” panel discussion, Jus Mundi CEO and Co-Founder Jean-Rémi de Maistre will offer a 15-minute look at a new approach to arbitrator selection, assisted by an ethical agentic AI system. Stay for a first-of-its-kind live demonstration and a glimpse at what could be next for the way practitioners identify the right arbitrator.
Featured Speaker: Jean-Rémi de Maistre, CEO & Co-Founder, Jus Mundi