Clifford Bloomfield, Esq. is a neutral at JAMS. Prior to his career in ADR, Mr. Bloomfield was a litigator at both AM Law 100 and boutique law firms, representing clients in a variety of complex commercial disputes and other matters. Mr. Bloomfield serves as a JAMS mediator, arbitrator, court appointed neutral/special master, neutral evaluator, and hearing officer, and is available to serve as an emergency arbitrator. 

As a litigator, Mr. Bloomfield represented clients in disputes concerning intellectual property, commercial contracts and relationships, securities fraud, antitrust enforcement, labor and employment law, commercial lending, commercial and residential leases, debt collection, and personal injury. He also served as a law clerk in both the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York and the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Eastern District of New York. He joined JAMS in 2016, working with arbitrators on high-stakes cases and assisting the legal department, among other responsibilities. This extensive legal experience has served him well as a JAMS neutral. 

In 2021, Mr. Bloomfield joined the JAMS panel as a neutral. Since then, he has served as an arbitrator and mediator in dozens of matters. He is committed to the fair and efficient resolution of disputes. Thorough, patient and pragmatic, he is known for his ability to cut through extraneous matters and zero in on the truly determinative issues. Mr. Bloomfield has significant experience working on scientific, economic, and other technical subject matters, and is recognized for his comprehensive and thoughtful approach in applying the law to technical areas. A hallmark of Mr. Bloomfield’s work is his ability to craft nuanced awards that guide the parties with clear and concise explanations of his rulings.

In addition, Mr. Bloomfield continues his employment at JAMS, where, among other things, he serves on the National Arbitration Committee and continues to clerk on complex cases. Most recently, Mr. Bloomfield was instrumental in the development and implementation of the JAMS Mass Arbitration Protocols and Guidelines.

Mr. Bloomfield has extensive experience in federal and state arbitration law, arbitrator provider rules, and best practices. He teaches in training programs for arbitrators, presents at conferences and other industry events, and has written a number of articles on arbitration law, including two chapters in the Practicing Law Institute’s Arbitrating Commercial Disputes in the United States. Mr. Bloomfield is an Adjunct Professor at Pepperdine University Caruso School of Law teaching arbitration law and practice.

Representative Matters

• Business Commercial
• Mediated dozens of consumer disputes against a financial services institution
• Mediated dispute between to businesses involving breach of a services contract
• Arbitrated and rendered an award in a dispute over the allocation of shares in certain limited liability companies; the parties waived a hearing and proceeded on the papers
• Arbitrated and rendered awards in several matters involving breach of business loan agreements secured by personal guarantees following virtual hearings
• Arbitrated and rendered an award in a consumer matter involving retaliation claims by credit card holder under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and state consumer protection statutes following in-person hearing
• Arbitrated several matters alleging violation of consumer protection laws arising from auto loans, rendering awards after holding virtual hearings
• Arbitrated and rendered award in consumer protection claim brought under Virginia law following in-person hearing
• Arbitrated several matters involving commercial/residential construction claims, including alleged damage to roof due to faulty solar panel installation (handled cases through discovery motion practice before settlement)
• As a litigator, argued and served as lead trial attorney in complex commercial dispute involving the failure of a business due to usurious loans
• As a litigator, defended bank and securities firm in suits by insurance companies that lost substantial capital in an infamous Ponzi scheme
• As a litigator, represented credit card association in antitrust class action relating to interchange rates
• As a litigator, defended credit card association against multiple consumer antitrust class actions under state law
• As a litigator, handled FTC and DOJ second requests
• As a litigator, supervised debt collection practices at law firm to ensure compliance with statutes and regulations, including the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act and the Fair Credit Reporting Act
• Served as a law clerk in arbitrations involving claims by customers against cryptocurrency exchanges
• Served as a law clerk on arbitrations involving disputes arising from (a) mergers and other corporate transactions, (b) the purchase of distressed assets, (c) a putative art sale, (d) a supply agreement relating to industrial materials, (e) non-payment of a business loan, and (f) an attorney fee-sharing agreement
• Served as a law clerk on several Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) arbitrations
• As a judicial law clerk, drafted decisions in dozens of complex commercial disputes
• Intellectual Property
• As a litigator, represented a pharmaceutical company in a breach of contract matter with a former researcher who alleged that the company misappropriated his intellectual property
• As a litigator, represented a watch company accused of trademark infringement
• As a litigator, represented a software developer alleged to have breached a covenant not to compete
• Served as a law clerk in several arbitrations involving trade secret misappropriation and breach of contract in the biotech sphere
• Served as a law clerk in an arbitration involving a distribution agreement dispute among biopharmaceutical companies
• Employment Law
• As a litigator, handled a breach of employment contract litigation brought by hedge fund’s former marketing director
• As a litigator, represented a client accused of violating federal employment laws such as ERISA and the WARN Act
• Served as a law clerk in an arbitration involving discrimination and wage claims, breach of a non-solicitation agreement and disputes arising under employment agreements, including entitlement to earnout payments and whether an employer was required to advance attorneys’ fees in a pending litigation
• Served, as part of UPENN’s Civil Practice Clinic, as co-lead counsel in an employment discrimination jury trial in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania
• As a judicial law clerk, drafted numerous decisions in employment discrimination and related matters
• As a judicial law clerk, drafted decisions involving wage claims
• Securities
• As a litigator, handled securities fraud cases arising under Section 10(b) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934
• As a litigator, handled securities regulatory inquiries
• Served as a law clerk in an arbitration concerning “Blue Sky” claims arising under state law
• As a judicial law clerk, drafted decisions involving class certification, materiality, loss causation and scienter (including securities fraud related to the publication of false London Interbank Offered Rates and the failure to disclose predatory practices in a dark pool trading platform), as well as application of the Trust Indenture Act to the removal of parent guarantees in suits brought by bondholders against firm
• Bankruptcy
• As a litigator, represented secured lender in adversary proceeding
• As a law clerk in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in the Eastern District of New York, reviewed and analyzed legal and factual issues in business and consumer bankruptcy proceedings, and drafted decisions, bench memoranda, and orders on topics such as:
• Chapter 11 plan confirmation, including feasibility, cramdown, and the absolute priority rule;
• Asset sales under section 363, including the interplay between the Bankruptcy Code and the Tax Injunction Act; and
• Enforceability of prepayment consideration clauses; the use of cash collateral when the lender holds an absolute assignment of rents; the impact of post-petition payments on the secured status of a creditor; and the enforceability of a guarantee entered into by a debtor’s principals
• Provided information to pro se parties in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Eastern District of New York’s Office of the Pro Se Law Clerk
• As a judicial law clerk drafted opinions on Bankruptcy topics such as the constitutional limits of bankruptcy court authority, mandatory abstention, customer status under the Securities Investor Protection Act, claim subordination under section 510(b), discharging claims in chapter 11, and denial of discharge under section 727
• Personal Injury
• As a litigator, served as lead counsel during discovery, evidentiary hearings and at jury trials in personal injury cases, including medical malpractice and negligent supervision claims
• As a litigator, provided pre-publication legal advice to local newspapers as part of a “Libel Hotline”
• Served as a law clerk in a personal injury arbitration
• As a judicial law clerk, drafted decisions involving claims under the Jones Act and the Death on the High Seas Act
• As a law clerk, assisted with drafting allocation award relating to catastrophic train derailment
• Civil Rights
• Served as the project attorney for the New York City Stop & Frisk Joint Remedial Process
• As a litigator, drafted an amicus curiae brief arguing that Georgia’s voter ID law was unconstitutional
• As a judicial law clerk, drafted decisions in numerous civil rights cases
• Other Relevant Legal Work
• Draft awards and orders addressing issues related to arbitrability, discovery, spoliation and sanctions, exclusion of evidence, privilege claims, expert witnesses, protocols for remote arbitration, summary disposition, liability and the award of attorneys’ fees and arbitration costs, confirming an arbitration award and enjoining or compelling arbitration
• Serve as a resource regarding federal and state arbitration law, ethics and the rules of arbitration providers
• Assisted discovery master with report and recommendation regarding privilege disputes in a multidistrict litigation
• Drafted policy memorandum regarding remote arbitration

Honors, Memberships, and Professional Activities

Memberships and Affiliations

• Adjunct Professor, arbitration law and practice, Pepperdine University Caruso School of Law, 2022
• Member, American Bar Association, Business Law Section, 2023
• Past Member, Election Law Committee, New York City Bar Association
• Past Member, International Law and Practice Section, New York Bar Association
• Past Member, Penn Advocates, University of Pennsylvania
• Past Board Member, Equal Justice Foundation, University of Pennsylvania

Bar Admissions

• New York, First Department, 2002
• U.S. District Courts, Southern District of New York and Eastern District of New York, 2005

Selected Publications

• “Mass Arbitrations: The New Landscape of Dispute Resolution and Its Challenges,” JAMS, May 2024
• “The Use of Tutorial in Life Sciences Arbitrations” (co-authored with Michael D. Young), JAMS, July 2021
• “Arbitrating Commercial Disputes in the United States,” Chapter 3: The FAA Statutory Framework (co-authored with Michael D. Young), Practising Law Institute, 2020
• “Arbitrating Commercial Disputes in the United States,” Chapter 10: Discovery (co-authored with Michael D. Young), Practising Law Institute, 2020
• “Resolving Insurance Claim Disputes Before Trial,” Chapter 1: Binding Alternative Dispute Resolution and Insurance Claims (co-authored with Michael D. Young), ABA Book Publishing, 2018
• “Interim and Emergency Measures in International Commercial Arbitration: Time to Say Goodbye to Irreparable Harm and Likelihood of Success on the Merits (co-authored with Robert Davidson),” New York Law Journal, 2018

Background and Education

• Associate, JAMS, 2016–2024
• Law Clerk to Hon. Shira A. Scheindlin, U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York, 2013–2016
• Law Clerk, U.S. Bankruptcy Court, Eastern District of New York, 2009–2013
• Hon. Carla E. Craig, 2013
• Hon. Jerome Feller, 2012–2013
• Hon. Elizabeth S. Stong, 2009–2012
• Associate, Markowitz & Chattoraj LLP, 2008–2009
• Associate, Law Office of Marshall E. Bloomfield, 2007–2008
• Associate, Paul, Weis, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP, 2004–2007
• Associate, Clifford Chance LLP, 2001–2004
• J.D., University of Pennsylvania Law School, 2001
• B.A., cum laude, Cornell University, 1997