Alternative Dispute Resolution Services

What is Arts Arbitration and Mediation Services?

Arts Arbitration and Mediation Services (A.A.M.S.), a program of California Lawyers for the Arts (C.L.A.), has provided alternative dispute resolution to artists and entertainers since 1980. C.L.A. started A.A.M.S., which was the first alternative dispute resolution program in the country to specifically tailor its services for the arts and entertainment communities, as a natural extension of the organization's mission to provide preventative education and appropriate means of self help for artists, who often become involved in business arrangements without being fully informed of the legal consequences.

C.L.A. established a special alternative dispute resolution program for the arts after noticing that disputes involving artists, performers and arts organizations, while varied in legal content, may revolve around a set of central themes which would be foreign in the contexts of other dispute resolution programs. Recurring themes include the emotional issues involved with the content of artistic work, credit for work performed and the factors contributing to the production of the work.

What type of services does it provide?

A.A.M.S. provides counseling, conciliation, mediation, arbitration, neutral evaluation and meeting facilitation. The service has program coordinators at offices in San Francisco (415-775-7200 x101), Los Angeles (310-998-5590) and Sacramento (916-442-6210) who help artists throughout the state. These program coordinators counsel clients in the use of negotiation techniques in order to help them resolve the dispute for themselves, offer conciliation assistance by communicating between parties by telephone, regular mail and fax, coordinate mediations by setting up a meeting at a neutral site with trained mediators or coordinate arbitrations or early neutral evaluations in accordance with the rules of California Code of Civil Procedure and rules created by the A.A.M.S. Advisory Committee. However, A.A.M.S. program coordinators are neutral and cannot give legal advice or representation.

What kind of disputes does it mediate?

While disputes with A.A.M.S. are generally arts-related, the organization's volunteer mediators have helped parties resolve many types of disputes. A.A.M.S. has helped parties resolve disputes involving landlord-tenant issues, payment or credit for work performed, ownership of artistic work or copyright, collaboration or partnership issues and fee collection.