Cedric C. Chao
Founder and PrincipalChao ADR, PC
50 California St.Suite 1500
San Francisco, CA 94111 Phone: (415) 293-8088 Email: cedric.chao@chao-adr.com Website: www.chao-adr.com
ADR Services
ARBITRATORS, MEDIATORS, SPECIAL MASTERS
Additional Services
International Disputes Consulting; Mock Arbitrations
Specialty Areas
Arbitration Services: Commercial, Contracts, Energy, Intellectual Property, International
Mediation Services: Commercial, Contracts, Energy, Intellectual Property, International
ADR Experience/Training
Head of International Litigation and Arbitration Practice of Morrison and Foerster LLP (1996-2013); US Head of the International Arbitration Practice of DLA Piper LLP (2013-2019); sat as ICC, ICDR, AAA, and SIAC Arbitrator; Completed AAA, ICDR, and CIArb training; Lectured on arbitrators’ jurisdiction, arbitrator ethics, discovery, remedies, expedited proceedings, adjusting advocacy to meet contrasting rules and expectations in US jury, domestic and international arbitration settings, etc.
Education
B.A. with Distinction and Departmental Honors (Economics), Stanford University; J.D., Harvard Law School
Licenses/Certification
California State Bar; admitted to practice in all US District Courts in California; Ninth, Fifth and Tenth US Circuit Courts of Appeal; US Supreme Court.
Affiliations
Life Member, American Law Institute; One of 31 Advisors to the ALI Project to Draft the Restatement of the US Law of International Commercial and Investment Treaty Arbitration; Former US Member, ICC Arbitration Commission; Member, AAA/ICDR Council; Fellow, Chartered Institute of Arbitrators (London); Fellow, Litigation Counsel of America; Former Chair, Litigation Section of the State Bar of California.
Honors Awards
Named by The Daily Journal as one of California’s “Top 100 Lawyers” (September 2018); Named by Best Lawyers in America as the “2018 San Francisco Arbitration Lawyer of the Year,” and the “2020 San Francisco Mediation Lawyer of the Year;” Recipient of the Daily Journal’s prestigious “2019 California Lawyer Attorney of the Year” award for thought leadership regarding international arbitration; Listed in Global Arbitration Review’s “International Who’s Who in Commercial Arbitration,” in Euromoney’s Guide to World’s Leading Experts in Commercial Arbitration, in Euromoney’s Guide to World’s Leading Litigation Lawyers, and in Northern California Super Lawyers (Thomson Reuters).
Articles/Publications
Co-author (with Hon. Daniel Weinstein) of the chapter on mediation in Thomson Reuters’ treatise Business and Commercial Litigation in Federal Courts (5th Ed. 2021); Author, “Six Trends that Will Shape Future International Commercial Disputes,” Law 360 (2017); Author, “Should Technology Companies Arbitrate?” Corporate Counsel (2017). See www.chao-adr.com or LinkedIn page for speaking engagements and additional publications.