Zela ''Zee'' G. Claiborne, Esq., a full-time neutral since 1998, specializes in the resolution of complex domestic and international business disputes including commercial, intellectual property, real estate, and construction matters. Ms. Claiborne is held in the highest regard by counsel for her exceptional listening skills, fairness, calming influence when diffusing volatile situations, and ability to reconstruct fractured business relationships.
ADR Experience and Qualifications
Ms. Claiborne has successfully mediated, arbitrated, and served as a panelist on more than 1,200 cases covering the following areas:
- Business and Commercial: Cases involving private entities in many industries and jurisdictions, including contract disputes, partnership and joint venture dissolution, officers and directors, corporate, banking, accounting, securities, software development, fraud, unfair competition, equipment leases, creditors’ claims, environmental, agriculture, product liability, employment, insurance, sales and marketing, professional liability (attorneys, accountants, etc.), healthcare and medical practices, non-profits
- Commercial Construction and GEC: Numerous public and private projects including wastewater treatment plants, power plants, roads and bridges, schools and universities, hospitals and healthcare facilities, rail and transit systems, airports, high-rise office buildings, research facilities, manufacturing plants, apartment buildings, condominiums, single family houses, retail buildings and shopping centers, hotels and resorts, oil refineries, and solar projects
- Employment: Wide variety of disputes including wrongful termination, discrimination, harassment and retaliation cases, employment contract disputes, and misappropriation of trade secret cases
- Intellectual Property: Copyright, patent, trademark, trade secrets, and licensing involving high technology, science, software, wireless telecommunications, and medical devices
- International: A variety of overseas commercial disputes involving pricing, breach of contract, patent protection, licensing agreements, equipment, employment discrimination, tax sharing, copyright infringement, and profit sharing
- Real Estate: Commercial and residential properties, including sales, leases, lease options, non-disclosure claims, broker liability, easements and boundaries, subsidence, landslides, land use, zoning, and environmental remediation
- Professional Liability: Claims against accountants, stockbrokers, appraisers, attorneys, architects, engineers, and other professionals
Representative Matters
- Claim against contractor by developer of $12.5 million solar project in Arizona involving 45,000 ground mounted photovoltaic panels
- Multi-million dollar claims of infringement of 8 patents related to pay-for-performance advertising between two of the leading web based companies
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Dispute between one of the world’s largest semiconductor companies based in Switzerland and a California manufacturer of hard drives arising out of a Master Development Agreement and a series of Product Supply Agreements
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Mediated to resolution a dispute between companies in the US and China involving claims of copyright infringement and misappropriation of trade secrets arising out of alleged unauthorized use of a software system used to manage government subsidies
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Claim of corporate “freeze out” and demand for ownership of IP and stock by two former officers and directors against a start up company developing cutting edge technology for the purification of water and other liquids
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Chaired the arbitration panel for a dispute involving licensing claims to certain worldwide patents for cardiac stents, with rights valued at approximately $4 billion
- Mediated resolution of consolidated cases related to beachfront property in Hawaii valued in excess of $20 million between general, limited partners, and a third party purchaser over the disposition of the property and potential land purchase
- Arbitration of multi-million dollar claims by contractor relating to design, fabrication, and erection of structural steel racking and process piping arising out of oil refinery construction (tripartite, Chair)
- Arbitrator for claims for monetary damages and injunctive relief arising out of a licensing agreement for computerized software for dialysis treatment and management (tripartite)
- Mediated case involving software piracy claims, alleging copyright and trademark infringement, brought by well-known international software company against a distributer
- Wrongful termination and gender/race discrimination claims by former employee of large international drug and medical device company
- Claims of wrongful termination by geotechnical engineer against soils engineering firm
- Pharmaceutical sales representatives’ claims of wrongful termination allegedly in retaliation for complaints about the employer’s marketing strategies and for age discrimination
- Dispute between general partner and limited partners involving indemnity for fees and costs arising out of professional liability suit against real estate appraiser (tripartite)
- Claim against accountant and large stock brokerage firm for damages due to alleged erroneous advice regarding the tax consequences of donating stock to a charitable foundation
- Settled a dispute between a semiconductor business and a digital video company concerning their respective obligations under a Tax Sharing Agreement
- Sole arbitrator for suit by liberal arts college against a hedge fund manager alleging breach of contract, breach of fiduciary duty, and fraud
- Sole arbitrator for an arbitration of claims by a US designer and manufacturer of high-end bicycles against a distributor in Norway
- Sole arbitrator for claims by investors in secured real estate and construction loans against mortgage loan brokers
- Sole arbitrator for contractor’s claims arising out of construction of a solar electric system at an Air Force base
- Sole arbitrator for an international dispute by a designer and manufacturer of semiconductors against a Hong Kong distributor regarding claims for payments due for products ordered for the Chinese market
- Mediated a multimillion-dollar claim by contractors against a public entity arising out of a micro-tunneling operation to install new storm water and sewer lines under a river and an airport runway
- Mediated $2 million claim by WBE contractor against the State of California Department of Transportation arising out of a highway pipeline rehabilitation project
- Mediated a legal malpractice claim brought by a start-up company in Hawaii and its Chinese investors against patent counsel over failure to adequately protect various worldwide patents for a data communication system
- Mediated settlement of claim for delays and defects against general contractor brought by Chinese developers of high-tech facility
- Mediated advertising industry case involving claimed interest in LLC providing ads on “spectacular” video billboards
- Mediated dispute between medical device company and industrial gas business over storage tanks sold by trustee in bankruptcy
- Mediated dissolution of business partnership involving companies in the golf course business
- Mediated government contracts dispute between companies providing IT services to Air Force bases
- Mediated contract dispute between electrical contractor and power company
- Mediated utility company’s claims against storage business involving easement issues and fraud
- Mediated an elderly resident’s claim against a non-profit retirement community over the terms of a Continuing Care Agreement
- Sole arbitrator for claims of breach of Strategic Alliance Agreement and misappropriation of trade secrets involving a manufacturer of commercial building automation systems and a provider of wireless distribution systems
- Chair of arbitration panel for complex dispute arising out of a fast-track contract for work on expansion of a wafer fabrication plant
- Mining dispute between a company dredge mining for gold and another mining aggregates from dredge tailings arising out of contracts setting forth the parties' rights on shared property