Profile: Barry H Garfinkel

Commercial Arbitration

Biography: Commercial Arbitration

Barry H Garfinkel is the co-head of Skadden Arps' international litigation and arbitration practice. In addition to handling a broad spectrum of US and international litigation and arbitration, Mr Garfinkel has been in charge of many of the firm's more significant appeals. He argues matters in federal and state appellate courts and formerly headed the firm's US litigation practice.

Mr Garfinkel has served as lead counsel in international arbitrations for numerous multinational companies (both US and non-US entities). He has appeared in ICC, UNCITRAL, ICSID, LCIA and AAA arbitrations. Mr Garfinkel has also served as party-nominated arbitrator in ICC, AAA and ad hoc arbitral tribunals and has served as the chairman of tribunals. He has advised numerous firm clients on the preparation of arbitral clauses in international commercial contracts and overall arbitration strategy.

The matters in which he has acted as both counsel and arbitrator cover a broad range and include: construction disputes, investment, joint ventures, sales and distribution, insurance, securities law, oil and gas, corporate and commercial, power and energy, and technology issues.

Mr Garfinkel is listed as 'leading' in numerous guides to international arbitration. He is a frequent lecturer on AAA and ICC programmes, which he has also chaired. He has written on diverse international arbitration topics, which have been published in Mealey's and in AAA publications. He has also lectured on international arbitration topics at the Second Circuit Judicial Conference.

Mr Garfinkel is a graduate of the College of the City of New York (BSS, 1950) and Yale University (LLB, 1955, managing editor, Yale Law Journal). He served as a law clerk to the Honourable Edward Weinfeld, US District Court for the southern district of New York (1955 to 1956). He is a Fellow and president-elect of the College of Commercial Arbitrators and a Fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers.