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Public credential
Certified Mediator
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Current Position & Background
Current position: International Counsel, Mediator and Arbitrator. Mediations are primarily in the international commercial area. Have also advised host government on mediation of investor-state claims. Served as official delegate to signing events for the UN Convention on International Settlements Resulting from Mediation (Singapore Convention), Singapore, August 2019.
As a Brazilian resident I am in Brazil regularly so am available to conduct mediations there. My wife Prof. Nazareth Serpa, the first private mediator in Brazil, is available for co-mediations if requested.
Fluent in English and Portuguese, business proficient in Spanish and have mediated in these languages. Russian and French are intermediate, with an understanding of Russian history & culture and experience working with Russian parties in mediations and official and private negotiations. Basic Italian.
Background: Private practice and 15 years as in-house counsel as follows:
Of Counsel, Veirano Advogados, Rio de Janeiro/São Paulo/Brasília and Diaz Reus, Miami.
Director, Legal & Government Affairs/Latin America & Canada, 3Com, Santa Clara, CA, and Miami, FL, USA. Geographic responsibility also included Western Europe (UK, France, Netherlands, Spain) on selected large projects.
Legal Director/Latin America, Oracle, Redwood Shores, CA and Miami, FL, USA
Director, Legal & Government Affairs/Latin America/Caribbean and Senior Legal Adviser for Russia, Digital Equipment Corporation, Maynard, MA and South Florida, USA.
Legal Adviser, Bank of Boston Law Dept., International Group, Boston, MA, USA
Attorney pro bono, Environmental Division, Massachusetts Attorney General’s Office, Boston, MA, USA
More information at http://www.paulemason.info
Practice Areas
Specialize in complex international commercial cases, several over U.S. $1 million, some with multiple parties. Sectors include agribusiness, aviation, energy (oil & gas, electrical, etc.), environmental, food, insurance & reinsurance, public bids, shipping, technology, art & cultural property, travel. Parties from Argentina, Brazil, Costa Rica, Honduras, Germany, Japan, Nicaragua, Panama, Russian Federation, Taiwan, U.K., U.S. Several mediations conducted bilingually in English, Portuguese and Spanish, with understanding of the cultural issues involved. Mediated international commercial cases for the ICC/Paris, ICDR/New York and U.S. Federal Court in Miami.
Extensive experience with international commercial arbitration as well, primarily as arbitrator and occasionally as counsel. Arbitrated first international dispute in 1986 between Spanish and U.S. companies. Arbitrated or acted as counsel in arbitrations in these sectors: Aerospace, oil & gas, energy, project finance, medical technology, financial markets & investments, mergers & acquisitions, reinsurance, construction, product import-export and distribution (steel, sophisticated wood products etc.), telecommunications, information technology, internet & e-commerce, intellectual property, outsourcing, and sports marketing. Parties from Argentina, Australia, Brazil (numerous), Canada, China, Costa Rica, France, Germany, Honduras, India, Malaysia, Norway, Panama, Russia, Spain, the United Kingdom, the United States, and Venezuela.
Conducted arbitrations under the auspices of the ICC, LCIA, ICDR and WIPO/Geneva. This arbitration experience is helpful for mediation because many international commercial contracts have combined med-arb clauses whereby disputes not settled by mediation then go to binding arbitration. A mediator who understands how international arbitration works will be able to help guide the parties in mediation with a better understanding of their BATNA (best alternative to a negotiated agreement) via arbitration if they do not settle in mediation.
Mediation Style
Flexibility is a key to successful mediation, listening to the parties’ input and having them participate actively in the process. I use a combination of styles, depending on the situation.
Mediation Experience
Arranged and participated in the world’s first international mediation by videoconference in 2006, for an ICDR case resolved successfully between Brazilian and U.S. multinational parties.
September 2020: Mediated AAA aviation case via Zoom.
- 2018: Mediated dispute between Brazilian multinational and Central American seller in the agribusiness sector (ICDR/Miami).
- 2018: Mediated dispute between Japanese, Taiwanese and U.S. companies in the personal care products distribution sector (ICDR/Los Angeles).
- 2017: Mediated settlement of dispute between Russian and British companies in the aviation sector (Florida courts/Miami).
- 2013 and 2014: Co-mediated several Brazilian domestic disputes in Portuguese with successful outcomes.
- 2011: Mediated settlement of aircraft charter dispute between Costa Rican and U.S. companies (ICDR/NY).
- 2010: Mediated settlement of shipping dispute between Russian agribusiness and U.S. shipping companies. Mediation conducted in English with Russian and Ukrainian documents.
- 2009: Mediated settlement of multimillion dollar complex arbitration on business interruption reinsurance for loss of use of large electrical generators in Central America. We had 11 participants from six different companies and countries. Mediation conducted in Spanish and English (ICC/Paris).
- 2007: Mediated multimillion dollar post – M&A arbitration case on oil spill and tax liabilities between Brazilian mining company and large U.S. oil company. Partially settled with the remainder going to arbitration. Mediation conducted in Portuguese and English (ICDR/NY)
- 2006: Acted as counsel in mediation of Brazilian energy project financing dispute. Case settled by mediation using videoconferencing at my initiative as counsel. This was the first successful international commercial mediation conducted by videoconference, with sites in Brazil and the U.S. (ICDR/NY)
- 2005: Mediated multimillion dollar reinsurance case on bond for Argentine government contract between large U.S. and Argentine reinsurance companies. Settled successfully. Mediation conducted in English and Spanish. (U.S. Federal Court/Miami).
- 1988 – 1994: As in-house counsel, conducted numerous informal internal mediations in disputes between departments and groups of large multinational company in Latin America, Russia and U.S.
- 1983: Mediated settlement of U.S.$50 million case involving environmental liability for underground gasoline spill between eight large multinational oil companies and local community.
Mediation Education
American Arbitration Association Mediator Training Course, Miami, 2003
Mediation and Negotiation Training in Post-Graduate ADR course for lawyers and judges, Faculty of Law, PUC University of Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, Brazil, 2001 and 2002 (in Portuguese)
Teaching & Mentoring
- Mentoring 20 young lawyers and law students from Brazil, India, Italy, Pakistan, Russia, Singapore, South Korea, Spain and the U.S.
- Co-Professor, Intensive Workshop on Negotiation & Mediation for exchange students from Victoria University Law School, Melbourne – Australia. Course given at FIU Law School, Miami, December 2017.
- Expert Assessor for the ABA Southeast Regional Mediation Advocacy Competition, FIU Law School, Miami, February 2018.
- Expert Assessor for the CPR International Mediation Competition, São Paulo, Brazil, June 2017.
- Expert Assessor for the AMF Mediation Competition (in Portuguese), Rio Grande do Sul – Brazil, June 2017.
- Expert Assessor for the IBA – IMI – VIAC International Mediation Competition, Vienna, July 2016.
- Expert Assessor and Member of the Case Problem Committee, LexInfinitum International Mediation Competition, Goa, India, January 2017.
- Co-coach, Milton Campos Law School (Belo Horizonte, Brazil) team which won the Brazilian National Mediation Competition, Porto Alegre, October 2016.
- Co-Professor, intensive Negotiation/Mediation Workshops at Moscow Academy of Finance & Law and at the Federal University of St. Petersburg, Russia, April 2011.
- Guest lecturer on “Combining Mediation and Arbitration (Medi – Arb) to Resolve International Commercial Disputes: Western vs. Chinese Perspectives and Experiences”, graduate law course on Latin American Commercial Arbitration, University of Miami Law School, Miami, Florida, USA, November 2008.
- Mediation Training in English and Spanish for the Quito, Ecuador Chamber of Commerce’s Center for Conciliation and Arbitration, Miami, July 1996.
Conference Presentations
- Presentation on Benefits of the Singapore Convention on International Commercial Mediation, AAA/ICDR, Miami, October 2019.
- Comments on benefits of the Singapore Convention for cultural property disputes, FIMC Conference on Resolution of Cultural Property Disputes, Camera di Commercio, Florence, October 2019.
- Presentations on “Videoconferencing for Arbitration and Mediation”, ICC-PANARB Panel on Technology and ADR, Panama January 2018; and Chartered Institute of Arbitrators DAS Convention, London, November 2017 (by videoconference).
- Panel speaker in Portuguese in respective presentations for the Milton Campos Law School and for the Brazilian Bar – Minas Gerais state section (OAB-MG) “Os Mecanismos de Mediação na Experiência de um Mediador Comercial Internacional” (“Mediation Mechanisms in the Experience of an International Commercial Mediator”) – Belo Horizonte – MG, Brazil, August 2016.
- Panel speaker at UNCITRAL headquarters on the Proposed UNCITRAL (Singapore) Convention on Mediated Settlements of International Commercial Disputes, Vienna, 2016.
- Coordinator, Roundtable on Multi-Party Mediation in the Energy Sector, 4th CPR Brazil Business Mediation Congress, Rio de Janeiro, 2016.
- Panel speaker on “Choosing Arbitral Institutions, Arbitrators and Mediators for Disputes with the Brazilian Public Administration: a Perspective from Abroad” (in Portuguese), I Annual Conference on Arbitration and Mediation in the Brazilian Public Sector, Brasília (2015).
- Panel speaker, “Mediation in Business Sectors” (in Portuguese), II Brazilian Business Arbitration and Mediation Congress, São Paulo, (2015).
- Opening speaker on “Combining Mediation and Arbitration to Resolve Business Disputes” (in Portuguese), 3rd Annual Santa Catarina (Brazil) Seminar on Mediation and Arbitration, Joinville-SC, Brazil, September 2013.
- Recommendations in Portuguese made to Brazilian Senate Commission at public hearing to draft proposed Law on Mediation, Brasília, August 2013.
- “Tecnología e Mediação – Mediação internacional por Videoconferência” (“Technology and Mediation – International Mediation by Videoconference”), CPR Brazil Business Mediation Congress, Rio de Janeiro, April 2013.
- “Use of MED-ARB and ARB-MED in International Commercial Disputes”, Rio de Janeiro Bar Association (OAB-RJ), April 2012.
For other presentations, see www.paulemason.info
Mediation Publications
“The Singapore Convention: A New Avenue for Corporate Counsel”, LAW.COM|Corporate Counsel, July 28, 2020, at
“The Singapore Convention and its Benefits for Brazil”, posted on the IMI website (March 2020). Portuguese version to be published in December 2020 in the Revista Brasileira de ADR (Brazilian ADR Journal, Rio de Janeiro.
“Videoconferencing in International Arbitration and Mediation Proceedings”, Silicon Valley Arbitration and Mediation Center, at https://SVAMC.org/articles May 2020.
With Carla Araújo Demchuk and Nazareth Serpa, translation of Singapore Convention on Mediation into Portuguese, August 2019, posted on the IMI website.
International Commercial Arbitration Practice: 21st Century Perspectives. Creator and General Editor of book in its 10th year of publication, 50+ chapters, with Horacio Grigera-Naón, Co-Editor, Lexis-Nexis/Matthew Bender books, New York, 2010 – 2020 with annual update releases. Co-author, chapter 8 on ICA in Latin America and author, chapter 53 on Videoconferencing for Arbitration and Mediation.
“Med-Arb, Arb-Med and Related Processes in Brazil and Beyond – Some Observations and Suggestions”, chapter in Temas de Mediação e Arbitragem, vol. 4 (LexEditora S/A, expected 2019).
“Development of Business Mediation in Brazil” (co-author), chapter on Brazil for worldwide publication of the Academy of International Dispute Resolution and Professional Negotiation (Hong Kong), expected 2019.
“Corporate Culture and Business Mediation”, Kluwer Mediation Blog online, September 4, 2018, http://mediationblog.kluwerarbitration.com/2018/09/04/corporate-culture-business-mediation/
“The Brazilian Mediation Wave – Will It Rise?”, Kluwer Mediation blog,
21 October 2016, at http://kluwermediationblog.com/2016/10/21/the-brazilian-mediation-wave-will-it-rise/
“Proposed UNCITRAL (Singapore) Convention on Mediated Settlements of International Commercial Disputes”, co-authored with IMI Chair Deborah Masucci and Andrea Maia of the IBA, IBA Bulletin (expected 2016).
“Brazil’s New Mediation Law and the Impact on International Business Disputes”, co-authored with Brazilian lawyer and mediator Alexandre Simões, AAA Dispute Resolution Journal, Vol. 70, no. 4 (December 2015), pp. 13 – 19.
“The Law, Exposed”, a translation and brief commentary on the new Brazilian Mediation Law, co-authored with Brazilian lawyer and mediator Alexandre Simões, part of Building a Mediation Structure in Brazil in the International ADR section of CPR’s Alternatives journal, Vol. 33, No. 11, December 2015, pp. 163 – 170.
“Arbitration and Mediation of Brazilian M & A Disputes”, Beijing Arbitration Commission column in the Disputes Digest section of the China Business Law Journal, Beijing, Vol. 6, issue 8, September 2015.
“Mediating Commercial Disputes between Global and Local Companies”, New York State Bar Association Brazil Chapter, June 2015.
“Multi-dimensional Mediation”, chapter in the book Contemporary Tendencies in Mediation, Humberto Dalla and Juliana Loss de Andrade, Co-Editors, Editorial Dykinson, Madrid, 2015.
“The Arbitrator as Mediator, and Mediator as Arbitrator”. Journal of International Arbitration (The Hague), December 2011. Follow-on case note to be published in the April 2012 issue of the JOIA.
“O Mito de Mediação e Expertise” (“The Myth of Mediation and Subject-Matter Expertise”), in Portuguese, for the Brazilian Construction Law Institute (IBDiC), 2012.
“Multidimensional Mediation”, Alternatives Journal, International Institute for Conflict Prevention & Resolution (CPR/New York), February 2010. A shorter version focusing on International Mediation can be found on the CPR website’s International Practice column (November 24, 2009) at:
http://www.cpradr.org/tabid/45/articleType/ArticleView/articleId/547/Default.aspx
Contributing writer for themes on “Mediação e Tecnología na Era da Internet” and “Mediação Multi-Dimensional” for Maria de Nazareth Serpa’s book “Teoria e Prática da Mediação de Conflitos” (2d Edition in preparation), Lumen Juris Legal Publishers,
Rio de Janeiro. English version to be published by Kluwer Law in 2012.
Videoconferencing in International Arbitration and Mediation Proceedings”, Chapter 53 in the book INTERNATIONAL COMMERCIAL ARBITRATION PRACTICE: 21st CENTURY PERSPECTIVES
(Paul E. Mason and Horacio Grigera-Naón, Editors, Lexis-Nexis books/New York, October 2010)
“Videoconferencing for International Disputes”, Revista Brasileira de Arbitragem (The Brazilian Journal of Arbitration, published by the Brazilian Arbitration Committee/IOB Thomson), No. 11, July – September 2006 issue.
“Mediation Trends in Latin America” (with Burton Landy, Esq.), Hispanic Bar Association 21st Annual Convention, Miami, October 1996.
“U.N. Mediation: More Effective Options” (co-author), SAIS Review (Johns Hopkins University Foreign Policy Institute – School of Advanced International Studies, Washington, D.C.), Vol. 5, No. 2, 1985; Presentation to the Harvard Program on Negotiation, Cambridge, MA, 1984. The proposal in this article was adopted and put into place by the United Nations in the early 2000s.
“Numerous publications (book, articles) on international mediation and arbitration by this author may be referenced at http://www.paulemason.info
Affiliations
Founder and former Co-Director, IMI-Brazil; Mediator, Singapore International Mediation Centre; Florence International Mediation Chamber (FIMC); Panels of Mediators and Arbitrators of the Court of Arbitration for Art (CAfA) of the Netherlands Art Institute; AAA and ICDR Panels of Mediators; ICC/Paris Mediator and Arbitrator; WIPO/Geneva General Intellectual Property Panel of Neutrals and ICOM/WIPO Panel on Art & Cultural Property Disputes; Mediator and Member of Mediation Commission, Brazil-Canada Chamber of Commerce/São Paulo, Brazil; Panelist, Beijing Arbitration Commission, Hong Kong International Arbitration Centre (HKIAC).
Silicon Valley Arbitration & Mediation Center, see www.SVAMC.org Member “Tech List” of highly vetted tech expert arbitrators & mediators; Board Member, Chair of Membership Committee, Founder and Co-Lead, Latin America/Caribbean Group.
Member, Mixed Mode Dispute Resolution International Task Force, Pepperdine University – College of Commercial Arbitrators – IMI, 2016 – 2018.
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