Forum (alternative dispute resolution)

Forum, formerly known as the National Arbitration Forum (NAF) is an organization that provides arbitration and mediation services to businesses, based at its Minneapolis, Minnesota headquarters and offices in New Jersey. The organization was founded in 1986. As of 2008, the National Arbitration Forum administered over 200,000 cases a year, most of which were consumer debt collection cases. In 2009, the National Arbitration Forum ceased administration of new consumer arbitrations as part of a consent decree with Minnesota Attorney General Lori Swanson concerning the NAF's ties with debt collection firms. The company maintains a panel of over 1,600 arbitrators and mediators who are attorneys and former judges located across the United States and in 35 countries around the world. Panelists arbitrate and mediate the disputes.

The company is an "approved"dispute resolution service provider of ICANN domain name disputes and has handled more than 7,600 cases.

The NAF was founded in 1986 as a subsidiary of another company, Equilaw, which subsequently went bankrupt in 1994. NAF survived the bankruptcy and appears to have grown rapidly in recent years. The NAF and Lawyers Associated Worldwide (LAW) work together on an international level. The National Arbitration Forum is located in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

An approved domain name dispute program provider for ICANN, the NAF has administered over 10,000 domain name disputes since 1999. The number of domain name disputes administered is on the rise, up 143 cases from 2006 to 2007. The NAF deals predominantly with registered domain names that are abused by parties who have no legitimate rights to them. Some of the famous trademarks involved in NAF domain name dispute resolutions include Los Angeles Angels, Disney, Hershey's Kisses, Jimmy Buffett, and Univision, most recently Bill Clinton.

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