"Online Dispute Resolution Is Powerful Tool for GCs, Say Experts"
Sue Reisinger, Corporate Counsel, August 8, 2017
"University of Missouri law professor Amy Schmitz and high tech businessman Colin Rule are proposing a global solution. In their new book, "The New Handshake: Online Dispute Resolution and the Future of Consumer Protection," the authors offer a key message for general counsel of major companies about embracing their dispute resolution concept..."
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"Retailers need to develop a virtual handshake"
Phys.org, August 3, 2017
"They propose a single platform that merchants and consumers would use to resolve disputes. The platform would have a single set of guidelines that both merchants and consumers would agree to, including a standardized remedy for dissatisfied customers, a process to suspend or remove problem merchants and a way for both consumers and merchants to appeal decisions..."
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"To Restore Trust in Online Transactions, Retailers Need to Develop a Virtual Handshake"
MU News Bureau, August 2, 2017
"At one time, transactions between merchants and consumers were often sealed with a handshake. This handshake was more than a kind gesture—it helped reassure both parties that the other was committed to the deal and would correct any problems. As more transactions occur online, finding fair and efficient resolution of problems that arise can be challenging. In a new book, a University of Missouri legal expert says it’s in the best interest of both retailers and consumers to establish a new virtual handshake to bring trust back into such interactions."
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"The New Handshake Book Review"
Dispute Resolution Magazine, Josh Stulberg, Summer 2017
"Schmitz and Rule examine a targeted though extensive dimension of the consumer world: the millions of B2C (business-to-consumer) transactions that participants execute by interacting with each other not "face-to-face" but through digital technology... What Schmitz and Rule establish is that participants, both consumers and merchants, all want the same thing: for every "customer issue" to be resolved satisfactorily as quickly and fairly as possible... They conclude with a proposed design for a global e-commerce ODR initiative, indicating that their "initial proposal" is designed to trigger, not end, important discussion and ideas for this domain of extensive economic activity and effective problem solving."
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"Consumer Redress: A Changing Tide?"
Global Pound Conference Blog, June 21, 2017
“After much study and inquiry, they are concluding that we cannot update our old legal redress systems fast enough to keep up with the changes being wrought by the internet. We need to build for the future. Software-enabled private resolution processes, backed by private enforcement, are seen by many judges and regulators as a much better fit with the needs of online consumers than legal redress options....”
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"The New Handshake: Now on Amazon.com"
Amazon.com, June 12, 2017
“You can now purchase your copy of The New Handshake off of Amazon.com...”
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"Colin Rule Talks About the New Handshake on eBay Radio"
eBay Radio, June 7, 2017
“Colin Rule spoke about The New Handshake with eBay Radio hosts Jim "Uncle Griff" Griffith and Lee Mirabal...”
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"Taking Online Dispute Resolution to the Next Level"
Credit Slips Blog, May 26, 2017
“The New Handshake surveys that current landscape of online dispute resolution and sets out a blueprint for how the Internet can help consumers worldwide deal with disputes arising from their e-commerce transactions. With more and more consumer transactions moving online (ten years ago, I likely would have purchased that travel alarm clock at the-somehow-still-semi-alive Radio Shack), the book's detailed ideas for how to design an effective dispute resolution system is increasingly important for businesses and for consumer advocates...”
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"The New Handshake: Professor Schmitz Co-Writes New Book on Online Dispute Resolution"
Mizzou Law News Service, May 9, 2017
“Professor Amy Schmitz recently published a book that seeks to explain how online dispute resolution (ODR) can expand access to remedies for consumers, with co-author Colin Rule, the mastermind behind the ODR systems of eBay and PayPal...”
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"The New Handshake" Book Review
Mediate.com, April, 2017
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Consumer Redress and "The New Handshake"
Business Conflict Management, April 23, 2017
“For many years, a tempest has surrounded public policy approaches to consumer protection, largely implicating three utterly inapt legal constructs... The whole thing has been a testament to the futility of the law to address a felt need in a way that conforms to our legitimate expectations. Comes now Prof. Amy J. Schmitz of the University of Missouri and Colin Rule of Modria with an extra-legal, market-driven, empirically-based approach whose values reflect old-time America and yet whose execution relies upon cutting-edge technology...”
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The New Handshake Lays Out the Future of Consumer Protection
Modria.com Blog, April 18, 2017
“We used to buy goods and services in person. We’d introduce ourselves, look each other in the eye, and negotiate the terms of the transaction. If we thought it was a good deal, we’d seal it with a handshake. That handshake was more than a kind gesture – it signaled that if any problem arose, both sides were committed to getting it resolved quickly and fairly. That handshake was our personal trustmark. Nowadays, it’s harder to close deals with a handshake... ”
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Professor Schmitz Discusses Themes from Her Book at ABA Meeting
Missouri Center for the Study of Dispute Resolution (CSDR), Faculty News, 10/6/16
“Professor Amy J. Schmitz participated in a panel presentation at a recent American Bar Association meeting in Boston. For her part on the panel, “Regulating Consumer Dispute Processes: Arbitration, Class Action Waivers and the CFPB,” Professor Schmitz explained concepts and ideas she further discusses in her forthcoming book, co-written with Colin Rule, The New Handshake: Online Dispute Resolution and the Future of Consumer Protection...”
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Stay tuned for more press, coming soon.


If you see mentions of the New Handshake in the media, please let us know via the information on the Contact page.