Lawrence S. Schaner is an independent arbitrator, handling both international and domestic cases. In his more than three decades of practice, he has acquired broad experience with complex, high stakes business disputes spanning many sectors and industries.
Mr. Schaner has been appointed as an arbitrator in more than 95 cases, serving as presiding arbitrator, sole arbitrator, co-arbitrator, and emergency arbitrator. His experience includes administered and ad hoc matters under many sets of rules, including the AAA, CPR, ICC, ICDR, JAMS, KCAB, LCIA, SCC, SIAC, and UNCITRAL, among others.
He is ranked in Band 1 by Chambers USA for arbitrators in the United States. In Chambers Global, he is recognized in its Global Market Leaders rankings for “International Arbitration: Most in Demand Arbitrators.” He is recognized for his work in commercial and international arbitration by other leading directories as well, including Best Lawyers in America, Who’s Who Legal, and Legal Media Group Expert Guides. Chambers USA has described him as “a very experienced commercial arbitration expert who is a sophisticated and fair person to deal with,” “excellent,” “tremendously knowledgeable,” and “highly respected.”
Mr. Schaner is a Fellow of the College of Commercial Arbitrators and a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators. He has taught a seminar on international arbitration at Northwestern University Pritzker School of Law, as an Adjunct Professor, since 2010. He is a member of the panels of arbitrators of many of the world’s foremost arbitral institutions.
Until April 2017, he was a partner at Jenner & Block, in Chicago, where he co-founded and co-chaired the firm’s International Arbitration Practice. During his 29 years at the firm, he acted as counsel and arbitrator in a wide range of high value matters worldwide. He also served as counsel in major domestic litigation and arbitration proceedings throughout the United States.
The business disputes Mr. Schaner has handled cover a broad spectrum of industries, including aerospace and defense, automotive, chemicals, construction, energy, financial services, hospitality, manufacturing, medical devices, printing, software, technology, telecommunications, and textiles. They have concerned amounts in controversy ranging from less than $1 million to more than $1 billion. The matters have involved contract claims concerning many types of contracts, such as licensing agreements, manufacturing agreements, insurance contracts, joint venture agreements, restrictive covenants, employment contracts (including executive compensation), mergers and acquisition agreements, distribution and franchise agreements, hotel management agreements, credit agreements, and supply agreements. In addition, Mr. Schaner has arbitrated claims relating to antitrust and competition laws, trade secret laws, and other statutes, as well as claims for fraud, negligent misrepresentation, breach of fiduciary duty, and tortious interference with contract.
Mr. Schaner has taken an active role in the U.S. and global arbitration communities, including with many of the key organizations that are vital to the practice of arbitration, such as the International Bar Association, International Chamber of Commerce, London Court of International Arbitration, American Arbitration Association/International Centre for Dispute Resolution, and Chartered Institute of Arbitrators. He has spoken and published widely in the arbitration field. He is a co-editor of International Arbitration in the United States (Kluwer Law International 2018) and served from 2013-18 as the editor of Dispute Resolution International, the dispute resolution journal of the International Bar Association.
Mr. Schaner earned his J.D. from Stanford Law School in 1986 and B.A. from Duke University in 1982. He was a law clerk to the Hon. Cecil F. Poole, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit (1986-1987). He is a member of the bars of California, Illinois, and New York.