Fellow of the National Center for Technology and Dispute Resolution, housed at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. NCTDR was founded in 1998 with a grant from the Hewlett Foundation. In 2003, the Center began working with the UMASS Department of Computer Science and the National Mediation Board to model mediation processes online under the first of two National Science Foundation grants. Daniel was one of the primary researchers on both grants. The Online Dispute Resoloution (ODR) standards developed by NCTDR/ICODR, of which Daniel was a principal author, were issued by the International Standards Organization (ISO) in March 2025 as the core of ISO Standard 32122: Transaction Assurance in E-commerce — Guidance for Offering Online Dispute Resolution Services.
In 2005, Jeff Aresty (IBO President) and Daniel Rainey got lost in LIverpool trying to find the restaurant where they were to have dinner with a group from the ODR Forum. Thus began Daniel’s association with IBO (where he serves as a Board Memberr), and the birth of PeaceTones.
Founding member and past President of The International Council for Online Dispute Resolution (ICODR), a nonprofit consortium that drives the development, convergence, and adoption of open standards for the global effort to resolve disputes and conflicts using information and communication technology.
Co-chair of the international group that devised the Universal Disclosure Protocol for Mediation, and active advocate for the UDPM.
Co-Chair of Working Group 3 of the ODR Task Force for the American Bar Association Section of Dispute Resolution.
Co-Chair of the International Mediation Institute’s Online Mediator Competency Task Force.
Past member of the Supreme Court of Virginia’s Access to Justice Commission, Self-Represented Litigants Committee. Current member of a committee of the Virginia Supreme Court reviewing mediator ethics and standards of practice for court certified mediators in Virginia.
Participant-observer to the Uniform Law Commission’s Study Committee on the Singapore Convention.
Participant-observer to the UNCITRAL Working Group III proceedings on international commercial dispute resolution.