Dispute Resolution Section

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Edna Sussman
Dispute Resolution Section Past Chair
Co-chair, Committee on Publications

Edna Sussman, Esq., FCIArb
Arbitrator & Mediator
                                                 Mailing Address: 20 Oak Lane, Scarsdale, NY 10583                                                      
Office Address: 10 E. 40th St, Suite 3500, NY, NY 10016
Phone: 914-472-9406; 212-213-2173
Cell: 914-261-6816
Fax: 914-472-8975
E-mail: esussman@sussmanADR.com
Web site: www.SussmanADR.com

Background

  • Current: Full time arbitrator and mediator, Principal SussmanADR LLC and Distinguished ADR Practitioner in Residence at Fordham University School of Law.
  • Former: Of Counsel, Hoguet Newman Regal & Kenney, LLP; Litigation Partner and Associate at White & Case, LLP; Litigation attorney representing clients and serving as an arbitrator and mediator in complex domestic and international business litigations, arbitrations and mediations. Cases handled involved claims or were determinative of transactions ranging in value from $1 million to $3 billion.

Dispute Resolution Experience

  • Arbitration – well over 100 arbitrations of business disputes as chair, sole and wing arbitrator under many institutional rules in administered and ad hoc proceedings; conducts the semi-annual 2 day arbitration training for new arbitrators for the American Arbitration Association (AAA) and provides other arbitrator training sessions.
  • Mediation – well over 100 mediations as mediator for institutions, ad hoc and for the federal, state and bankruptcy courts in New York; certified as a mediator by the courts in New York and by the International Mediation Institute; provides mediation trainings for the American Arbitration Association and others.
  • Arbitration and Mediation Panel memberships: AAA (American Arbitration Association), ICDR (International Centre for Dispute Resolution), CPR (International Institute for Conflict Prevention and Resolution), Hong Kong, Singapore, Swiss, Dubai, and Kuala Lumpur Arbitration Centers, Energy Arbitrators List Around the World, FINRA (securities disputes), U.S. ECR (U.S. Institute for Environmental Conflict Resolution), federal, state and bankruptcy courts in N.Y., listed by ICC, LCIA and WIPO.

Honors:

  • First Tier listing for Alternative Dispute Resolution in New York City (1 of 2 individuals so listed), U.S. News & World Report, 2010
  • Listed 2007-2011 Best Lawyers for Alternative Dispute Resolution
  • Listed 2009-2011 in Super Lawyers for Alternative Dispute Resolution
  • Selected as an Outstanding Woman in Energy Law by Energy 360
  • Listed in Who's Who of Commercial Mediation 2011 (1 of 11 listed in NY)

Representative arbitration and mediation matters handled:

  • Commercial contracts: broad range of commercial disputes including failure to pay,  delivery of defective goods, provision of deficient services,  misrepresentations, fraud, commercial code issues, breach of warranties
  • Corporate mergers, acquisitions and dissolutions: breaches of representations and warranties, post-closing adjustments, post-sale competition by seller, asset valuation
  • Partnerships and Joint Ventures: entitlement to payments, ownership disputes, accounting, mismanagement and misappropriation,  removal of partner, non-compete
  • Financial matters: bank/customer, broker/customer, tax issues, payment defaults, guarantees, forgeries, hedge fund and private placement fees
  • Energy:  electricity production, pricing and distribution, oil spills, oil warrants, energy service company (ESCOs) disputes, PMPA, renewable energy credits, energy inventions
  • Securities: fraud, 10b-5, customer/broker, private placements, securities delivery
  • Insurance: credit risk, fidelity, property and casualty, builders risk, malpractice, transit, mold, stop loss, health, workman’s compensation and employment practices liability 
  • Environmental: environmental assessments, environmental cleanups, superfund/CERCLA, stormwater management, sewer and infrastructure disputes, environmental attribute credits
  • Intellectual property: licensing fees, research and development disputes,  copyright, domain name, trade name, patents
  • Professionals: accountant’s liability, attorney malpractice, fee collections 
  • Construction and Real Estate: construction disputes, delay damages, developer/landlord and tenant disputes, breaches of contract for sale, sub-prime mortgages
  • Pharmaceuticals and Health Care- product development, licensing, royalties, distribution and marketing, therapeutic services, insurance, human and veterinary products
  • Franchises /dealerships: terminations, failure to support, royalty payments, non-compete
  • Family trusts and settlements- disputes over ownership of property- real estate and art

Education and bar admissions:
Columbia Law School: (J.D. 1973); Barnard College (B. A. 1970)
Bar Admissions: New York 1974; United States Supreme Court; United States District Court Southern and Eastern Districts of New York; United States Court of Appeals,  2nd and 3rd Circuits

Selected Bar Association and Professional Affiliations
New York State Bar Association

  • Chair, Dispute Resolution Section 2010-2011,  Editor-In-Chief, Dispute Resolution Lawyer

American Bar Association

  • Co-Chair, Arbitration Committee, and Council Member, Section of Dispute Resolution
  • Co-Chair, Arbitration Committee, Section of International Law
  • Former Chair, Renewable Energy Committee and the Dispute Resolution Committee, Section of Environment Energy and Resources 

New York City Bar Association

  • Former Chair, Energy Committee, member International Commercial Disputes Committee

Energy Bar Association

  • Former chair, Alternative Dispute Resolution Committee

American Arbitration Association, Board of Directors

College of Commercial Arbitrators, Board of Directors and Executive Committee

Chartered Institute of Arbitrators, Fellow

Institute for Transnational Arbitration, member advisory board

 Listing of recent presentations and copies of articles can be found at www.SussmanADR.com

 Selected Recent Presentations:

  • Saving Time and Lowering Costs- What are the Options that can Really be Accomplished, International Bar Association and ICDR, June 2011
  • Muscular Arbitration: Trimming the Fat out of Arbitration, American Arbitration Association,  March 2011
  • Med- Arb and the Future, Association for Conflict Resolution - Greater New York Chapter, Inc. February 2011
  • Protocols for Expeditious, Cost-Effective Commercial Arbitration  from the National Summit on Business-to-Business Arbitration, American Bar Association, February 2011
  • The Supreme Court and Recent Arbitration Jurisprudence: Where are we headed? Fordham Law School, January 2011
  • Promoting Settlement from Within Arbitration - Ethical and Practical Issues, New York State Bar Association, January 2011
  • Guerrilla Tactics in Arbitration, ICC Austria, November 2010
  • ADR for the Energy Sector, Cardozo Law School, November 2010
  • Legislative and other U.S. Arbitration Developments, U.S. Secretary of State's Advisory Committee on Private International Law Conference, October 2010
  • World Café- Mediation Issues, International Bar Association, October 2010
  • Arbitration Fundamentals and Best Practices, American Arbitration Association,

June 2010

  • Recalibrating the Bilateral Investment Treaty: Are Changes Needed?, Institute for Transnational Law and the American  Society of International Law, March 2010

Selected Recent Publications :

  • Reflections on the Use of Dispositive Motions in Arbitration, NY Dispute Resolution Lawyer, Spring 2011
  • All’s Fair in Love and War: or is it?:  Reflections on An International Code of Ethics for Counsel in Arbitration, forthcoming American Review of International Arbitration
  • A Multilateral Energy Sector Investment Treaty: Is it Time for a Call for Adoption by all Nations? American Bar Association’s International Lawyer, January 2011
  • 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
  • The Energy Charter Treaty Can Foster Solutions to Global Warming and Promote Sustainable Development, in Sustainable Development in International Investment Law, editor Andrew Newcombe (Kluwer Publisher) 2010
  • Arbitration Agreements and Bankruptcy: Which Law Trumps When?  NABTalk, Journal of the National Association of Bankruptcy Trustees, 2010
  • Adaptation to Climate Change: Fostering Progress Through Law and Regulation, lead author, New York University Law School Environmental Law Review, 2010
  • Why Arbitrate: The Benefits and Savings, NY State Bar Association Journal, Oct. 2009
  • The Arbitration Fairness Act: Unintended Consequences Threaten U.S. Business, 18 American Review of International Arbitration 455 (2009)