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Edna Sussman, esussman@sussmanadr.com, is an independent arbitrator and mediator and the Distinguished ADR Practitioner in Residence at Fordham University School of Law. Formerly a partner in the firm of White & Case LLP, she has extensive experience serving both as an arbitrator (as chair, sole or co-arbitrator) and as a mediator in a wide variety of complex international and domestic commercial disputes under many institutional rules and ad hoc. She serves on many institutional panels around the world. Her experience includes commercial transactions, finance and banking, energy, environment, franchises/distributorships, partnership and joint venture, insurance, mergers and acquisitions, accounting, intellectual property, construction, securities, real estate, pharmaceuticals, hospitality, aviation and professional liability. Sussman serves on the Boards of the American Arbitration Association as Vice-Chair of the New York International Arbitration Centernd of the College of Commercial Arbitrators and as the chair of the AAA-ICDR Foundation. She was named as one of the ten outstanding international mediators by Who’s Who Legal 2013 and selected based on peer review as Best Lawyer’s “2012 New York City Mediation Lawyer of the Year.” Sussman has lectured and published widely on arbitration and mediation topics and serves as one of the few trainers for mediation and arbitration for the International Centre for Dispute Resolution and the American Arbitration Association.
I have served as a court certified mediator for the federal and state courts in New York and have mediated well over 150 disputes through the courts, various institutional and ad hoc appointments. Recent mediation and arbitration matters have included a broad range of commercial disputes. The following is illustrative:
- Commercial contracts: broad range of commercial disputes including delivery of defective goods, provision of deficient services, failure to pay, misrepresentations, fraud, commercial code issues, breach of warranties
- Energy: electricity production, pricing and distribution, energy intellectual property , electricity generation plant service contracts, energy service company (ESCOs) disputes, Petroleum Marketing Practices Act, renewable energy credits, hydraulic fracturing (fracking), oil spills
- Environmental: environmental assessments, environmental cleanups, allocation of remediation costs, superfund/CERCLA, stormwater, sewer and infrastructure disputes, environmental attributes
- Intellectual property: licensing fees, R&D disputes, ownership disputes, trade secret
- Corporate mergers, acquisitions and dissolutions: breaches of reps and warranties, post-closing adjustments, earn-outs entitlement, post-sale competition by seller, asset valuation
- Partnerships and Joint Ventures: entitlement to payments and ownership, accounting, mismanagement and misappropriation, removal of general partner, breach of non-compete
- Professionals: accountant’s liability, attorney malpractice, fee collections
- Financial matters: bank/broker/customer, tax, guarantees, hedge fund, private placements, private equity, carry, mortgage backed securities, structured products, secured transactions, debt obligations
- Insurance: Bermuda form, credit risk, property and casualty, builders risk, malpractice, transit, mold, stop loss, fidelity, health, title, workman’s comp and employment practices
- Franchises /dealerships: terminations, failure to support, royalty payments, non-compete
- Construction and Real Estate: construction disputes, delay damages, developer/landlord and tenant disputes, breaches of contract for sale, sub-prime mortgages
- Securities: fraud, 10b-5, customer/broker/investment adviser, private placements
- Pharmaceuticals and Health Care: product development, product delivery, licensing, royalties, distribution and marketing, therapeutic services, pharma company valuations
- Aviation-defective parts supply claims, ownership claims in intellectual property and aviation R&D corporation, real estate lease for crew layovers, sales commission for aircraft
- Hospitality- partnership disputes over development projects, many motel and fast food franchisee and distributorship disputes
I have one goal as a mediator: to help the parties settle the case and find an acceptable compromise. I achieve success by helping each party realize that a negotiated resolution is the best alternative. I do not classify myself as either "facilitative" or "evaluative", but rather am guided by the specifics of the case and the personalities of the participants in deciding how to approach each matter. I consult with the parties in crafting the optimal process for the specific facts of the case. I find it generally useful to be a reality check and assist the parties in analyzing the strengths and the weaknesses of their case as well as assisting them in projecting the risks, the likelihood of success at each juncture in a court proceeding, and the costs over time associated with a continued dispute. However, as a mediator, I do not judge or attempt to impose my view or resolution upon the parties. Mediation is a process that I approach with patience, persistence, and sensitivity to the needs and feelings of all parties to achieve a settlement that is seen as beneficial by all. I have mediated many matters with multiple parties. Such situations require an additional level of finesse and a careful assessment of the respective positions, relationships, and interests of the parties. Experience and judgment are essential to making the right decisions on who to meet with, in what order, and who to include in joint caucuses, if a caucus model is employed. The sequence and grouping of the parties in the course of the negotiation can be determinative of the success of the mediation. I make these decisions with great care.
Commercial contracts Finance and banking Energy Mergers & acquisitions Distributorships and franchises Insurance Intellectual property Securities Environment Real Estate Construction Professional liability Pharmaceuticals Aviation Hospitality Employment
$700 per hour for mediation session and study time
Court Mediation Panels • New York State Supreme Court, New York and Westchester Counties, commercial division • Institutional Panel affiliations American Arbitration Association (AAA) large complex case, commercial, environmental and energy arbitration and mediation panels International Centre for Dispute Resolution (ICDR), large complex case, commercial and energy arbitration and mediation panels International Institute for Conflict Prevention and Resolution (CPR), commercial, international, energy oil & gas, franchise, banking, accounting and financial services panels; instutional panels in Switzerland Vienna, Hong Kong, , Shanghai, Shenzhen, Singapore, Korea, Kuala Lumpur, Australia, Vietnam, Brazil, Dubai, Kigali and British Columbia, Energy Arbitrators List Around the World, FINRA (securities) , National Futures Ass., U.S. Institute for Environmental Conflict Resolution, NY courts, ICC registered; National Academy of Distinguished Neutrals, arbitration & mediation panels
Bar Association and Professional Affiliations: Board Member American Arbitration Association; Vice-Chair New York International Arbitration Center; chair AAA-ICDR Foundation; Fellow Chartered Institute of Arbitrators, President of the College of Commercial Arbitrators 2015-2016 and fellow, American Bar Association (ABA) • Co-Chair, 2010-2012 Arbitration Committee, Section of International Law • Co- Chair, 2009-2012 Arbitration Committee and Member of Council, Dispute Resolution Section • Chair, Alternative Dispute Resolution Committee (2008-2010) and Renewable Energy Resources Committee (2006-2008), Section of Environment Energy and Resources New York State Bar Association (NYSBA) • Chair, 2010-2011, Dispute Resolution Section • Co-Editor-In-Chief, New York Dispute Resolution Lawyer (2009- )New York City Bar Association (NYCBA) • Chair, Energy Committee (2006-2009) • Member, International Commercial Disputes Committee Energy Bar Association (EBA) • Chair, Alternative Dispute Resolution Committee (2008-2009) ICC, U.S. Member of the ICC Consultative Task Force on the ADR, Expertise and Dispute Board Rules. and emergency arbitrators, AAA, member of Drafting Committee on Rules Regarding Discovery International Bar Association, Member Arbitration and Mediation committees, member subcommittee on IBA Rules on Investor State Mediation London Court of International Arbitration, Member, North American Users Member’s Council, International Arbitration Club of New York Member, International Institute for Conflict Prevention and Resolution, Member Banking and Financial Services, Arbitration and Mediation committees American Law Institute, Member Consultative Group, Restatement International Commercial Arbitration Institute for Transnational Arbitration, Member Advisory Board
Maria Sclafani, maria_sclafani@nysd.uscourts.gov, (212) 805-0643; additional references available on request.
I have served as a trainer for mediators for the American Arbitration Association/International Centre for Dispute Resolution and have lectured widely on mediation for many other organizations including IMI, the ICC, the American Bar Association, the New York State Bar Association and the International Bar Association. My mediation training is ongoing as I always keep abreast of new skills and best practices. Among the trainings I have taken: United States District Court for the Southern District of New York, mediation training (1997) United States Bankruptcy Court and New York State Supreme Court, mediation trainings Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, mediation training Advanced Negotiation Training with William Ury of the Harvard Program on Negotiation The Center for Mediation in Law, mediation training U.S. Institute for Environmental Conflict Resolution conciliation training.
Distinguished ADR Practitioner in Residence by the Fordham University School of Law
-Psychological Influences on Arbitrator Decision Making: Suggestions for Arbitrators and Counsel, American Review of International Arbitration, 2013 -Med-Arb: An Argument for Favoring Ex Parte Communications in the Mediation Phase, World Arbitration and Mediation Review, 2013 -All’s Fair in Love and War: or is it?: Reflections on An International Code of Ethics for Counsel in Arbitration, American Review of International Arbitration, 2012 -Combinations and Permutations of Arbitration and Mediation: Issues and Solutions, in ADR in Business, editor Arnold Ingen-Housz (Kluwer Publisher,), 2011 -The Advantages of Mediation and the Special Challenges to its Utilization in Investor State Disputes, Revista Brasileira de Arbitragem, 2011 -How to Use Experts in Mediation, in Mediation Techniques, International Bar Association, 2010 -User Preferences and Mediator Practices: Can They Be Reconciled Within the Parameters Set by Ethical Considerations, World Arbitration and Mediation Review Vol. 3 No. 1, 2009 -The New York Convention Through A Mediation Prism, American Bar Association Dispute Resolution Magazine, No. 15 Issue 4, Summer 2009 -Developing an Effective Med-arb/Arb-med Process, New York Dispute Resolution Lawyer, Spring 2009 -The Reasons For Mediation’s Bright Future, New York State Bar Association, NY Dispute Resolution Lawyer, October 2008 -The Final Step: Issues in Enforcing the Mediation Settlement Agreement, Contemporary Issues in International Arbitration and Mediation, The Fordham Papers Vol. 2 2008, Ed. Arthur W. Rovine (Martinus Nijhoff Publisher) -The Arbitration Fairness Act: Unintended Consequences Threaten U.S. Business, 18 American Review of International Arbitration 455, spring 2009 -Climate Change Adaptation Planning Guidance for Local Governments in the United States, American University Washington College of Law, Sustainable Development Law & Policy Journal, Spring 2009 -The Energy Charter Treaty Can Foster Solutions to Global Warming and Promote Sustainable Development, Publication forthcoming as a Chapter in Sustainable Development in International Investment Law, Editor Andrew Newcombe (Publisher Kluwer) 2009
AAA/ABA/ACR Model Standards of Conduct
IMI Professional Conduct Assessment Process
Lloyds Underwriters ( Atrium 570) - limit $2,000,000