A. A. White History

The Center provides assistance to the courts in encouraging the early settlement of pending litigation. The Center also provides assistance to educational institutions, including law schools, in the development and use of alternative dispute resolution concepts and procedures. The Center’s By-laws specifically state that it was created in order to "strive to reduce delay in the resolution of legal disputes through Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR); to reduce the cost of resolving legal disputes through ADR; to encourage the teaching of ADR procedures in schools." In addition, the Center will assist other organizations whose activities further, accomplish, foster or attain any of these purposes.

The Center is named for Dean A.A. White, the founding Dean of the University of Houston Law Center. Dean White and his wife, Ersie Kern Ator White, established the Ator Award. Judge Frank G. Evans was the 1988 recipient of the Ator Award and designated a portion of the award to the creation and financial support of the Center.