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Jeremy Lack
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Lawyer and ADR Neutral specialized in international commercial disputes and "mixed mode" processes, who advises a wide range of clients in several fields and industries. Founder of http://www.innovadr.com, which invests in mediations on a "no settlement, no fee" basis.


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Global Pound Conference, Independent Advisory Committee, Intercultural Competence, International Leadership Network, Mediation Advocacy, Mixed Mode, Online Dispute Resolution
IMI Certified Mediator, IMI Certified Mediation Advocate
Belgium, France, Israel, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Singapore, Spain, Switzerland, United Kingdom, United States
Commercial, Intercultural, International, Licensing, Patent, Technology
English, French, Hebrew, Spanish
Facilitative, Transformative
Yes
The Mediators' Green Pledge outlines measures for mediators to reduce their climate impact. View it here.
EQP - Experience Qualification Path (Historic)
Mediation Profile

Jeremy Lack is an independent attorney specializing in the prevention and resolution of disputes and the facilitation of commercial transactions, especially in international or cross-cultural settings. He is familiar with common law and civil law proceedings. He initially trained as a barrister in England (Middle Temple), and then worked as a patent litigation lawyer for Fish & Neave in New York (1989-1995), when he was first introduced to mediation. Since then, he also admitted to the Geneva bar as an overseas lawyer, and he is a former partner with Etude ALTENBURGER in Geneva, Switzerland, a tax and general legal services firm. Jeremy is a door tenant with QUADRANT CHAMBERS in London, UK and serves as counsel to HELVETICA AVOCATS in Nyon, Switzerland. He is also an adjunct professor with the FEDERAL POLYTECHNIC SCHOOL OF LAUSANNE (EPFL). Following his call to the bar of England & Wales in 1989, Jeremy qualified as a US attorney-at-law in 1990 (NY, various federal courts, and the USPTO), and registered with the bar of Geneva bar (ODAGE) as an EU lawyer, where he currently serves on its Executive Committee for the Section of International Lawyers. He has worked for BECTON DICKINSON & CO, MEDABIOTECH and NOVIMMUNE in general counsel, director and interim management roles (including as CEO) and for several start-up companies. Jeremy is accredited by and has provided mediation advocacy training services as well as ADR services to several mediation institutions in various countries, including IMI, AAA/ICDR, ASA, BCCI, CEDR, CMAP, CPR, ECDR, Geneva State Council, Global InterMediation, HUM/CMA, IBMS, IAM, ICC, INTA, IMI, JAMS International, Result ACB, SCAI, Singapore Mediation Centre, SIMC/SIMI, SKWM/CSMC/SCCM, WIPO, and the Swiss Chambers of Commerce. He was recently ranked as one of the ten most highly regarded mediators by THE INTERNATIONAL WHO’S WHO OF COMMERCIAL MEDIATION 2011 and was ranked again under the "Most Highly Regarded Firms" for mediation in 2012 and in 2013 and as a Global Elite Thought Leader in 2019.  Jeremy serves as a member of IMI's Independent Standards Commission, where he is responsible for  its taskforces, and has served on several ADR leadership committees for ABA, CPR (Europe), CIArb, CSMC/SKWM, CCIG, IMI, and GNII. He has Swiss, British, Israeli and US citizenships, and lives with his wife and two daughters in Geneva, Switzerland.  For more information, see: www.lawtech.ch 

Jeremy regular acts as settlement counsel in arbitrations, conciliations, mediations and negotiations. He also advises other lawyers and law firms on negotiation and dispute resolution strategies, helping them to identify the key issues in their case, separate the parties' interests from their positions, and assist them in perspective taking, reality testing, assessing their alternatives (BATNAs/WATNAs/PATNAs), SWOT analyses, option generation possibilities, and how to prepare for seven critical junctures in a negotiation or mediation: (1) the preparation stage, (2) the opening phase, (3) the exploration phase, (4) the option generation phase, (5) the negotiation phase, (6) the closing phase, and (7) the execution phase.

Recent cases include:

  • Institutional Mediation: Acting as counsel for a party in a dispute involving civil and criminal allegations in three countries in Europe and North Africa, involving private partnership agreements, two corporate entities (one in France and one in Morocco), and parties from four different jurisdictions. The matter was satisfactorily settled within six months of initiating the mediation proceedings, saving each party at least €1.5 million in procedural fees.
  • Ad-Hoc Investor-State Negotiation: Advised a large construction company on the verge of arbitration proceedings in final negotiations with a government that had appointed the company to design and build a series of ports in Asia. Although the request for arbitration had been prepared and previous negotiations by arbitration and in-house counsel had failed, the company used a new ADR approach to reach a settlement that preserved the value of the original agreement and generated new contracts in the process. The matter was resolved for less than 1% of what an arbitration or litigation would have cost, and within two months of initiating the ADR approach with the government in question. Approximate savings: three years of business uncertainty and € 2.5 million in litigation, arbitration and experts fees.
  • Ad-Hoc Technology Negotiation: Acted as settlement counsel to a consultancy firm in a complex cross-border in-rem internet dispute. The matter was satisfactorily settled within three months, within less then €25,000 in fees and expenses, following a successful UDRP process.
  • Ad-Hoc IP Dispute: Acted as settlement counsel to an open source company involved in a potentially costly and long-term international trademark dispute. Assisted the party in assessing and generating new options, and reaching a mutually acceptable outcome with its partner in the negotiation.
  • Institutional mediation: Sole mediator in a dispute between two large global pharmaceutical companies regarding a new product launch and licensing provisions.

Jeremy uses Guided Choice ADR techniques and has an outcome-focused and holistic approach, which is flexible and adaptable to a broad range of cross-cultural and international commercial disputes. He seeks to ensure that the parties have a common understanding of any mediation process that is used (which can vary significantly country-by-country), to tailor any ADR processes to take into account the parties' perceived procedural needs and their future business interests, and to jointly select one or more neutrals as may be appropriate, and depending on the type of dispute resolution process chosen. Jeremy tries to ensure that he understands the client's legal positions, facts and interests. He then conducts a future-oriented assessment process to clearly identify the client's interests, needs, concerns, motivations and pre-occupations looking forward, seeking to understand the rational, emotional and social drivers involved in the dispute. He also conducts an assessment of the conflict's propensity to escalate, and his client's expectations and constraints regarding the time, costs, award, consequences and likely impact of the clients's various alternatives (BATNA/WATNA/PATNA). A similar analysis is done using a perspective-taking analysis approach to assess the positions and interests of the client's partners in the dispute or negotiations and their counsel. With this analysis completed, anti-escalation measures are assessed and discussed and a strategy is formed and implemented, taking into account the procedural needs and concerns of all of the parties involved in the dispute. This can involve a traditional negotiation, mediation, or conciliation process, or a combination thereof, sometimes in parallel, separate from or integrated into any arbitration and/or muti-jurisdictional litigation proceedings (e.g., in MED-CON, ARB-MED, MED//ARB, MEDALOA and other guided choice proceedings). He works with co-counsel and co-counsel to design a mutually acceptable dispute resolution process and strategy and at times advises on the creation of hybrid processes to generate faster, cheaper and better outcomes, whereby the client can retain greater control over its costs and any outcome. This often involves working closely with counsel for the client's litigation partners to set mutually acceptable checks and balances, which foster a cooperative settlement spirit between the parties and their counsel, despite the possible existence of previously acrimonious or adversarial exchanges. This also sometimes involves acting as a Collaborative or Cooperative Lawyer, or as a quasi-collaborative/cooperative, agreeing to forego using or providing any information or knowledge obtained in the negotiation process in any future litigation or arbitration proceedings, should the matter not settle. This is discussed on a case-by-case basis, with the client's prior knowledge and written consent.

Jeremy has a broad commercial ADR practice and works in several fields. His areas of specialism are cross-cultural or international civil and commercial disputes and deal mediations, typically where there are complex business, technological, personally sensitive or intellectual property issues involved. He has worked extensively with large corporations, start-up companies, NGOs, IGOs, universities, families, venture capital firms, and private equity situations, where different disputants or stakeholders are seeking pragmatic outcomes that are cheaper, faster and/or better than litigated outcomes, and where the parties seek to re-align their interests. He is comfortable working in civil law and common law jurisdictions and with highly charged or emotional disputes, including family disputes. Jeremy also specializes in cross-border disputes and transactions, family businesses, new technologies, life sciences, information and communication technology, and has a broad international dispute prevention and resolution practice (including deal facilitation, advocacy, arbitration, conciliation and mediation), including designing hybrid processes. His practice areas include:

  • General Corporate & Commercial Law
  • Finance & Banking
  • Intellectual Property (creation, management, valuation & enforcement)
  • Film, entertainment, music, multimedia & copyright disputes
  • Internet, ICT & UDRP disputes
  • Board, management, succession planning & governance disputes
  • Intra-company disputes & team-building
  • Inter-Governmental Organisations & Non-Governmental Organisations
  • Investor-State Disputes
  • Industrial construction, shipping & trading disputes
  • Litigation / Conciliation / Arbitration & Mixed ADR Processes
  • M&A, Joint Ventures & Strategic Alliances
  • Sports & Sponsorship disputes
  • Private Equity & Family Businesses
  • Start-Up Companies / Venture Capital
  • Medical ADR & Healthcare
  • Pharmaceutical, biotech & medtech disputes (including licensing agreements)
  • Technology Transfer
  • Trusts, Estates, Divorces & Family disputes.

CHF 650/hour depending on the complexity and size of the case. Extensive travel time is invoiced at 50% of hourly rates. Adjustments can be made for long term or complex cases, where Jeremy has occasionally worked on a retainer basis, with a percentage of savings. VAT and/or an additional fee of 3% may be added to invoices to cover administrative expenses. Alternative fee arrangements are also available, particularly for start-up companies, NGOs, family businesses, individuals and not-for profit entities. See: http://lawtech.ch/fees/.

BAR ADMISSIONS

  • 2003: Geneva Bar (admitted as a European Union lawyer)
  • 1991: United States Patent and Trademark Office (Reg. No. 35,813)
  • 1990: US Federal Courts: EDNY, SDNY, NDNY, CAFC
  • 1990: US New York Supreme Court (1st Dept.)
  • 1989: Bar of England and Wales -- Middle Temple (current practice certificate)

MEDIATOR ACCREDITATIONS/APPOINTMENTS:

  • Bombay Chamber of Commerce and Industry (BCCI), India
  • Centre de Médiation et d’Arbitrage de Paris (CMAP), France
  • Centre for Effective Dispute Resolution (CEDR), UK
  • Chamber of Commerce of Milan, Italy
  • Chamber of Commerce of Florence, Italy
  • CPR: International Institute for Conflict Prevention & Resolution, USA
  • Croatian Mediation Association (Honorary Member), Croatia
  • Global InterMediation, USA
  • Grand Council for the Canton of Geneva, Switzerland
  • International Academy of Mediators (IAM), USA & International
  • International Centre for Dispute Resolution (ICDR) Panelist, USA & Europe
  • International Chamber of Commerce (ICC), International
  • International Mediation Institute (IMI), International
  • International Trademark Association (INTA), International
  • JAMS International (former Panelist)
  • Result ADR, the Netherlands
  • Singapore International Mediation Centre (SIMC), Singapore
  • Singapore International Mediation Institute (SIMI), Singapore
  • Swiss Chamber of Commercial Mediation (SCCM/SKWM/CSMC), Switzerland
  • World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), International

ADDITIONAL AFFILIATIONS:

  • Vice-Chair of the Independent Standards Commission of the International Mediation Institute (IMI) and a member of its Cross-Cultural, Investor-State, Mixed Modes, QAP and Mediation Advocacy Taskforces
  • President of the Swiss Chamber of Commercial Mediation (Section Romande) (CSMC/SKWM)
  • Advisor to the Geneva Chamber of Commerce and Industry (CCIG) on mediation issues, and member of the Advisory Council for the Swiss Rules of Commercial Mediation of the Swiss Chambers of Commerce and Industry
  • Member of the State Council of Geneva's Advisory Commission on Mediation Matters, Switzerland
  • Member of the Section of International Lawyers of the Geneva Bar Association (ODAGE)
  • Board member of the Global Negotiation Insight Institute (GNII)
  • Board member of Negotiation & Conflict Management Group (NCMG) International, a pan-African non-for-profit association with its headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland (see www.ncmginternational.org)
  • Past Member of the Practices and Standards Committee of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators and former Chairman of its Mediation Subcommittee (CIArb)
  • Past Co-Chair of the International Committee of the American Bar Association (ABA)'s Dispute Resolution Section

Richard D. Tipton Easton-Bell Sports, Inc. Senior Vice President, General Counsel and Secretary Oliver Iteanu Selam Iteanu Avocats France Regis Duchamp European Coordinator Easton-Bell Michael Farrelly VP Finance and Sales (CFO) Compania Minera Collahuasi mfarrelly@collahuasi.cl Brian Hick CEO Digicall SA Brian.hick@okikoo.com Francois Kaiser Attorney at law Carrard and Associes fkaiser@carrard-associes.ch Dr iur Christophe Wilhelm Partner FBT Attorneys-at-law cwilhelm@fbt.ch Ruslan Kharlamov Managing Director Alpicom SA ruslan.kharlamov@alpicom.ch Felipe Ossa Partner Claro y Cia fossa@claro.cl

Training and Education

Jeremy has taught mediation worldwide, and has lectured at Harvard, Pepperdine, Fordham, and Cardozo in North America, as well as across Europe, Asia, the Middle East, Africa and in Latin America.  He was one of the original members of IMI's mediation advocacy taskforce, and was actively involved in shaping and designing its criteria. He has conducted several trainings on mediation advocacy with Prof. Harold Abramson (USA) and Ms. Manon Schonewille of TOOLKIT COMPANY (NL). He served as the Global Coordinator of the Global Pound Conference Series in 2016-18.

Jeremy is an accredited mediation and mediation advocacy trainer, working with TOOLKIT COMPANY in the Netherlands. He has been involved in teaching mediation advocacy programs for the Geneva Bar Association, the Paris Bar Association, the International Committee of the American Bar Association's Dispute Resolution Section, the International Chamber of Commerce, and for several leading mediation organisations in the United States, Canada, Australia, the UK and continental Europe. He also provides regular trainings for NEUROAWARENESS CONSULTANCY SERVICES on mediation advocacy. For feedback on these trainings, see: http://www.neuroawareness.com/references/testimonials-about-our-workshops/.

Publications

Recent publications include:

  • J. Lack & A. Goh, The Importance of Process-Design When Selecting a Mediator for Cross-Border Disputes, Who's Who Legal 2019
  • R. Abbott, J. Lack and D. Perkins, "Managing Disputes in the Life Sciences", Nature Biotechnology, Volume 36, Number 8, August 2018.
  • W. von Kumberg, J. Lack and M. Leathes, "Enabling Early Settlement in Investor-State Arbitration"
  • P.M. Lurie & J. Lack, “Guided Choice Dispute Resolution Processes: Reducing the Time and Expense to Settlement” in Dispute Resolution International Vol. 8, No. 2, October 2014, pp. 167-177.
  • J. Lack, “A mindful approach to evaluative mediation” in MfN Tijdschrift Conflicthantering Nummer 3, pp. 18-23 (2014)
  • P.M. Lurie & J. Lack, “The Seven Principles of Guided Choice Dispute Resolution Processes”, Who’s Who Legal Mediation (2014), pp. 17-19
  • M. Schonewille & J. Lack, “Mediation in the European Union and Abroad: 60 States Divided by a Common Word?” in The Variegated Landscape of Mediation: A Comparative Study of Mediation Regulation and Practices in Europe and the World (Ed. M. Schonewille & F. Schonewille), Eleven International Publishing, the Netherlands (2014), Chapter 2, pp. 19-44
  • J. Lack & A. Lafranchi; “Chapter 32. Switzerland” in The Variegated Landscape of Mediation: A Comparative Study of Mediation Regulation and Practices in Europe and the World (Ed. M. Schonewille & F. Schonewille), Eleven International Publishing, the Netherlands (2014), Chapter 2, pp. 19-44
  • J. Lack, Proposed rules for Arbitration-Mediation (ARB-MED) (2014)
  • J. Lack, Chapter 5, “Outline of Civil & Commerical Mediation in Switzerland” in How to Master Mediation (Ed. David Richbell) in publication (2015)
  • J. Lack; M. Leathes; W.J. von Kumberg; "Enabling Early Settlement in Investor-State Arbitration - The Time to Introduce Mediation Has Come", TDM 1 (2014), www.transnational-dispute-management.com
  • J. Lack & F. Bogacz, "The Neurophysiology of ADR and Process Design: A New Approach to Conflict Prevention and Resolution?", 34 Cardozo J. of Conflict Resolution [Vol. 14:33] 2012, pp. 33-80 (also published in Contemporary Issues in International Arbitration and Mediation: The Fordham Papers 2011, Martinus Nijhoff Publishers, 2012 pp. 341-82)
  • "Negotiation and Neuroscience: Possible Lessons for Negotiation Instruction”, guest lecture to Harvard University’s Program on Negotiation (PON) faculty dinner in November 2012 (see http://www.pon.harvard.edu/research_projects/negotiation-pedagogy-program-on-negotiation/negotiation-and-neuroscience-possible-lessons-for-negotiation-instruction/)
  • "Bediou B, Mohri C, Lack J and Sander D (2011), “Effects of outcomes and random arbitration on emotions in a competitive gambling task”, Front. Psychology 2:213. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2011.00213
  • "Appropriate Dispute Resolution (ADR): The Spectrum of Hybrid Techniques Available to the Parties, Chapter 17 to ADR in Business, Practice and Issues Across Countries And Cultures (Kluwer Law International, edited by A. Ingen-Housz, 2011)
  • "Case Comment No. 7.2": in Practical Ethics for Mediators by Ellen Waldman (2011)
  • "The Growing Need for ADR in IP Disputes", Intellectual Property Magazine, December 2010 pp. 19-22
  • "Understanding the Mind in Peace Negotiations: The Neurobiology of Conflict and New Approaches to Dispute Prevention and Resolution" position paper and presentation for the James Martin 21st Century School, Oxford University, UK on (Mar 10, 2010) together with Baronness Susan Greenfield
  • "Finding an International Mediator: Identifying Suitable Candidates to Mediate an International Commercial Dispute" (co-written with Michael McIlwrath, Diane Levin, & Giovanni Nicola Giudice), The Peacemaker, Vol. 24, No. 2 February 2010
  • "The New Swiss Rules of Commercial Mediation of the Swiss Chambers of Commerce and Industry: Possible Links to Arbitration", Müller/Rigozzi (eds.) New Developments in International Commercial Arbitration 2008, Schulthess Editions Romandes 2008, pp. 105-24
  • "The Interaction Between Arbitration and Mediation: Vision vs. Reality", Dispute Resolution International, May 2007 Vol 1 no 1 (also published in SchiedsVZ, C.H. Beck Verlag, Muni
Compliance

Jeremy is bound by the various codes of conduct applicable to lawyers who are members of the bars of England & Wales, New York and Geneva.

In addition to the regulatory and complaints procedures available via his various bars in the UK, USA and Switzerland, Jeremy has agreed to adhere to the IMI Professional Conduct Assessment Process both as a mediator and as a mediation advocate. Parties are also encouraged to provide their feedback in an IMI Feedback Form to his IMI Reviewer.

Jeremy is covered by a general professional liability insurance policy with ALLIANZ in Switzerland, which provides a 5 million Swiss Francs coverage. This policy includes all work done as a mediator or as an attorney.

Contact
Jeremy Lack
+41 22 789 7901
Switzerland
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