The American Arbitration Association® (AAA®) - The International Centre for Dispute Resolution® (ICDR®), the world's leading provider of conflict management and dispute resolution services, announced the election of Christi Underwood as Chair of the AAA-ICDR's Council, and Linda A. Klein as a new Member of the AAA-ICDR Council.
"I look forward to working with Christi Underwood, our new Council Chair, who brings experience both from the bench and as a result of decades of work in arbitration and mediation, and with Linda Klein, who brings a depth of experience including her work as a past president for the American Bar Association," said Kimberly Wiehl, Chair of the AAA's Board of Directors.
Linda A. Klein is Senior Managing Shareholder at Baker Donelson in Atlanta, Georgia. Her practice includes a wide range of business dispute prevention and resolution matters, internal investigations, contract law, professional liability, and risk and crisis management. She has worked extensively with clients in the construction, higher education and pharmaceutical industries. Ms. Klein is listed in Chambers USA and The Best Lawyers in America®, which recently recognized her as Atlanta's "Lawyer of the Year" in Arbitration. She is regularly recognized by Super Lawyers among the top 100 lawyers in Georgia and the top 50 female lawyers in Georgia. In 2018, she was chosen "Attorney of the Year" by the Daily Report. Ms. Klein is a past president for the American Bar Association (ABA), the world's largest voluntary professional association, and was the first woman president of the State Bar of Georgia. She is a member of the American Law Institute.
Hon. Christi L. Underwood served as a Circuit Court Judge in the Ninth Judicial Circuit of Florida (in Orange and Osceola counties) from 2013 until her retirement in 2018. Prior to her judicial service, Judge Underwood worked as an attorney in private practice, specializing in construction-related matters and serving as an arbitrator. She is a former partner of the Foley Lardner law firm where she practiced until 2002, before starting her own firm. Judge Underwood received her undergraduate and law degrees from the University of Florida. She is a member of the bar in Florida, New York and the District of Columbia. Before graduating law school, Judge Underwood was a commercial construction company owner and acquired her certified general contractor's license. She is a Fellow of the American College of Construction Lawyers and the College of Commercial Arbitrators. She currently provides arbitration services in commercial and construction cases.
About the American Arbitration Association
The not-for-profit American Arbitration Association® (AAA®) is the leading provider of alternative dispute resolution (ADR) services for parties in commercial disputes, having administered more than seven million ADR cases since its founding in 1926. With 29 offices in the United States, in addition to Singapore, the AAA provides organizations of all sizes in virtually every industry with ADR services and products. For more information, visit www.adr.org.
About the International Centre for Dispute Resolution
The International Centre for Dispute Resolution® (ICDR®) is the international division of the American Arbitration Association (AAA) and the largest international provider of dispute resolution services. Established in 1996, the ICDR serves parties from over 100 countries with multilingual staff experienced in international dispute resolution proceedings, and a roster of over 725 arbitrators and mediators. For more information, visit www.icdr.org.