Tony Cole, Esq., FCIArb is a globally recognized authority on international and domestic arbitration, with both a commercial and construction ADR practice, and a consumer, employment and education ADR practice. He has been a member of the New York State Bar for two decades and arbitrates both domestic and international disputes through JAMS’ New York and London offices. Prior to joining JAMS, Tony worked as counsel at law firms in New York and Geneva, gaining particular experience in banking, finance and securities disputes, and incorporating a variety of commercial disputes and employment litigation. As an arbitrator he has built a diverse practice that ranges from general contractual/commercial disputes to specialized areas including construction, aviation, technology and intellectual property, as well as consumer and employment disputes. He has notable experience in disputes requiring the application of the law of multiple jurisdictions, being familiar with both common law and civil law systems, and having applied a range of laws including those of England and Wales, the United States (Federal and State), the European Union, China, Israel, Russia, India, among others, as well as international treaties. Most recently Tony has begun work on space law and artificial intelligence. He is an associate of the University of Leicester's Institute for Space, involved in the teaching of space law, and a member of Leicester Law School's Artificial Intelligence Working Group.

Tony is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators (FCIArb) and is a former Chartered Institute of Arbitrators Branch Chair. He was a member of the International Chamber of Commerce’s Task Force on Disability Inclusion and International Arbitration, which produced the 2023 ICC Guide on Disability Inclusion in International Arbitration and ADR. He has provided guidance on arbitration to the European Parliament of the European Union’s Committee on Legal Affairs, and serves as mentor and trainer to new adjudicators beginning work on consumer disputes. Tony also has an active consumer, employment and education practice, regularly sitting as arbitrator in disputes of all sizes. He has experience with a wide range of consumer legislation across both the United States and the United Kingdom, teaches in the field and regularly trains and mentors individuals commencing work adjudicating consumer disputes. In his employment practice Tony benefits from an unusual background representing parties on both sides of employment and labor disputes. His education practice benefits from his longstanding involvement in universities, including deciding claims brought by students against faculty members relating to PhD supervision while Director of Post-Graduate Research for the University of Leicester’s College of Social Sciences, Arts and Humanities, and his ongoing role as an adjudicator of complaints brought by schools against Ofsted, the governmental body responsible for inspecting and rating schools in England.

Tony is co-author of the book Understanding International Arbitration, and from 2018-2026 is leading a major research project on commercial arbitration across Europe that includes interviews with over 1,000 arbitration practitioners in 47 European countries and 125 cities (further information and publications are available on the project’s website and blog). Tony is widely recognized as a leading authority on the insights psychology can provide to arbitration practice, and has been lead author on widely read reports on arbitration in both Europe and the Americas. He is Reader of Arbitration and Investment Law at the University of Leicester, a leading British university.

ADR Experience and Qualifications

• Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators and former Branch Chair
• Delivered decisions in numerous arbitrations and adjudications covering a range of fields
• Member of the International Chamber of Commerce's (ICC) Task Force on Disability Inclusion in International Arbitration
• Has provided guidance on arbitration to the European Parliament of the European Union's Committee on Legal Affairs

Representative Matters

Commercial / Construction
Tony has approximately 20 years’ experience as an arbitrator and advocate in domestic and international commercial disputes, having begun his legal career as counsel in the New York office of one of the world’s leading commercial law firms, as well as spending time as external counsel to a Swiss arbitration boutique and as a door tenant of a London barristers’ chambers. He now regularly works as arbitrator in commercial disputes, with amounts in dispute ranging from over $100 million to less than $100,000, reflecting his commitment to a diverse practice. He has been invited to speak at conferences around the world and regularly teaches both commercial law subjects and arbitration law and practice. He sits in a wide variety of cases, domestic and international, ranging from contractual disputes to intellectual property, construction and aviation. Tony is a member of JAMS Global Engineering and Construction Group (“GEC”), regularly sits in construction-related disputes and publishes on construction dispute resolution.

• Arbitrator in an intellectual property dispute between a U.S. company and a Hong Kong company relating to licenses for the creation and sale of non-fungible tokens (NFT), governed by English law, seated in London.
• Arbitrator in multiple related anti-trust disputes between a U.S. financial services firm and U.S. companies, with claims raised under the Sherman Act, the Clayton Act and New York’s Donnelly Act, based on a contracts governed by New York law, seated in New York.
• Arbitrator in an intellectual property dispute between a U.S. patent holder and a Chinese licensee relating to a licensing agreement for a video codec, governed by California law, involving issues of Chinese law, seated in San Diego.
• Arbitrator in a dispute between a Russian company and a Canadian translation company involving a contract for the identification and recruiting of software developers, governed by Russian law, seated in London.
• Arbitrator in a dispute between an Indian company and a U.S. data analytics and regulatory compliance company arising from the termination of a contract relating to the operation of the U.S. company’s operations in India, governed by New Jersey law, seated in New York.
• Adjudicator in a dispute between a property management company and a building consultancy over fees for a failed tender for proposed refurbishment of a residential development, governed by English law.
• Adjudicator in a dispute between a railway company and a water company relating to losses due to damaged pipework.
• Adjudicator in multiple related disputes relating to the construction of a residential housing development.
• Adjudicator in a dispute relating to the alleged faulty installation of insulation, resulting in significant property damage.
• Adjudicator in a dispute relating to the purchase of the freehold of a property under English law, alleging negligent advice from a surveyor.
• Adjudicator in a dispute relating to the allegedly negligent provision of valuation services by a surveyor.
• Adjudicator in a dispute relating to the work of a surveyor as contract administrator during construction works.
• Adjudicator in a dispute over ownership of water pipework laid several decades previously where there was no clear record of subsequent passage of ownership.
• Adjudicator in a dispute relating to the legal status of two merged properties under the Water Industry Act 1991.
• Adjudicator in a  dispute relating to alleged misrepresentation of the acoustic properties of a property.
• Counsel in a US$42bn class action litigation involving multiple defendants, alleging complex securities fraud.
• Counsel in an ICC arbitration between a German party and an Argentine party relating to the bankruptcy of an airport operator.
• Counsel in an SCC maritime arbitration between a Russian party and a Cypriot party relating to the transport of oil in the Caspian Sea.
• Counsel in an ICDR arbitration between a Ukrainian party and a Canadian party relating to the manufacture of train wheels.

Consumer / Employment / Education / Other
Tony has an active consumer, employment and education practice, regularly sitting as arbitrator in disputes of all sizes. He has experience with a wide range of consumer legislation across both the United States and the United Kingdom, teaches in the field and regularly trains and mentors individuals commencing work adjudicating consumer disputes. In his employment practice Tony benefits from an unusual background representing parties on both sides of employment and labor disputes. His education practice benefits from his longstanding involvement in universities, including deciding claims brought by students against faculty members relating to PhD supervision while Director of Post-Graduate Research for the University of Leicester’s College of Social Sciences, Arts and Humanities, and his ongoing role as an adjudicator of complaints brought by schools against Ofsted, the governmental body responsible for inspecting and rating schools in England.

• Arbitrator in a dispute between a student and a law school over whether the student qualified to receive a diploma and graduate.
• Arbitrator in disputes under the Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967.
• Arbitrator and adjudicator in disputes under the Truth in Lending Act of 1968, the Consumer Rights Act 2015, and other consumer protection legislation.
• Adjudicator in a complaint brought by an Independent Learning Provider against the governmental Office for Standards in Education, Children’s Services and Skills (Ofsted) relating to an allegedly flawed inspection and public report that resulted in the provider losing substantial funding.
• Independent Reviewer of a complaint brought against England’s Solicitors Regulation Authority relating to an alleged failure to properly investigate a complaint raised against a solicitor for alleged negligence arising from the provision of property as security for a loan.
• Adjudicator in a dispute alleging failure by the operators of a residential property development to provide reasonable accommodations to a family with an autistic child.
• Adjudicator in multiple claims relating to the cancellation of air services due to COVID-19.
• Adjudicator in a dispute against a telecommunications company relating to alleged fraudulent signatures on a contract.

Honors, Memberships, and Professional Activities

Completed Virtual ADR training conducted by the JAMS Institute, the training arm of JAMS.

Memberships

• Fellow, Chartered Institute of Arbitrators, 2016-present
• Member, International Chamber of Commerce’s Commission on Arbitration and ADR, 2022-present
• Member, International Chamber of Commerce’s Task Force on Disability Inclusion and International Arbitration, 2021-2023
• Appointed to the European Parliament’s list of legal experts, 2017–2022
• Chair, East Midlands Branch Committee, Chartered Institute of Arbitrators, 2020
• Member, East Midlands Branch Committee, Chartered Institute of Arbitrators, 2017–2020
• Member, London Branch, Chartered Institute of Arbitrators, 2020-present
• Member, New York Bar, 2004–present

Recent Publications

Books/Reports

• Understanding International Arbitration (with Pietro Ortolani) (Routledge 2019)
• The Roles of Psychology in International Arbitration (editor) (Series: International Arbitration Library) (Kluwer 2017)
• “Arbitration in the Americas” (2018) (with Pietro Ortolani, Pinar Karacan and Stephanie Trindade Cardoso)
• “Legal Instruments and Practice of Arbitration in the EU” (2015) (with Ilias Bantekas, Christine Riefa, Federico Ferretti, Barbara Warwas and Pietro Ortolani)
• The Structure of Investment Arbitration (Routledge 2013)

Articles

• “Introducing Statutory Construction Adjudication to India: Drawing from International Experience”, (with Harry Meliniotis, Arran Dowling-Hussey and Tariq Mahmood) in Specialized Arbitrations: Emerging International Trends and Practices (Chirag Balyan, et al. eds. 2021)
• “Strange Bedfellows; Remarks on the Compatibility of Commercial Arbitration Principles with Maritime Arbitration” (with Aonghus Cheevers and Paolo Vargiu), Transnational Dispute Management (2021)
• “Arbitration in Its Psychological Context: A Contextual Behavioural Account of Arbitral Decision-Making”, in The Oxford Handbook of International Arbitration (Thomas Schultz & Federico Ortino eds.) (Oxford University Press 2020) (with Pietro Ortolani and Sean Wright)
• “Judicial Interpretation of Standard Arbitration Clauses: ‘Any and All Claims Related’”, in Judicial Control over Arbitral Awards (Cambridge University Press 2019) (with Rocio Digon and Kamil Mehiz)

Research on Commercial Arbitration in Europe

• Tony currently leads a £1,000,000 research project on commercial arbitration in Europe.
• He has so far interviewed 581 arbitration practitioners in 14 countries and 79 cities.
• National reports from the project written by Tony are available HERE: 

Invited Presentations (Recent)

• Talk: “The New Localism of International Commercial Arbitration”, The Honourable Society of Gray's Inn, 21 July 2021
• Conference: Business and Arbitration in an Era of Globalization, (member of panel on “Achieving Efficiency in Arbitration Proceedings”), Economic Chamber of North Macedonia, online presentation, 11 May 2021
• Keynote: “Arbitration and the European Rule of Law” (keynote on “The Changing Role of Arbitrators in the EU”), The Hague University of Applied Sciences, online presentation, 10 May 2021
• Keynote: 2021 Florida Bar ILS Richard DeWitt Memorial Vis Pre-Moot (keynote on “The New Localism of International Commercial Arbitration”), online presentation, 27 February 2021
• Conference: “Dublin International Arbitration Day” (member of panel on arbitration and psychology), Arbitration Ireland, Dublin, Ireland, 16 November 2018
• Conference: “V International Arbitration Readings” (member of panel on arbitrability), International Commercial Arbitration Court at the Ukrainian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Kiev, Ukraine, 4 October 2018
• “Modern Times in arbitration: Initiatives and Perspectives” (member of panel on arbitrability), Permanent court of Arbitration attached to the Economic chamber of Macedonia, Skopje, Macedonia, 19-20 April 2018
• Roundtable: “Guerrilla Tactics in International Arbitration: Views from Southeast Asia to the Atlantic”, Asia-Pacific Forum for International Arbitration, Dublin, 17 October, 2016
• Conference: “Arbitration Futures: The Next 10 Years” (member of panel on “Arbitration in 2026”; keynote speech to Under-40 Session), 10th Congress of the Commercial Arbitration Centre of the Portuguese Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Lisbon, Portugal, 7-8 July, 2016
• Conference: “International Dispute Resolution: Diversity Towards Convergence?”, Krakow, Poland, 15-16 October, 2015
• Participant in the UNCTAD Expert Meeting on “The Transformation of the International Investment Agreement Regime”, Geneva, Switzerland, February 2015
• Presentation to the JURI Committee of the European Parliament: “Legal Instruments and Practice of Arbitration in the EU”, Brussels, Belgium, February 2015
• Workshop: “Towards a Theory of Arbitration: A Decentering Approach to Globalization”, Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China, June 2014
• Conference: “International Arbitration: The Role of Law”, Stockholm, Sweden, Thursday, May 2014

Background and Education

• University of Leicester, Leicester (U.K.)
• Reader in Arbitration and Investment Law, 2016–present
• 33 Bedford Row Chambers, London (U.K.)
• Door Tenant, 2019–2020
• University of Alcalá Faculty of Law, Alcalá (Spain)
• Visiting Professor, 2017
• Gentium Law Group, Geneva, Switzerland
• Of Counsel, 2016–2018
• University of Westminster, London (U.K.)
• External Examiner, 2015–2016
• Chartered Institute of Arbitrators, Accelerated Fellowship Programme
• FCIArb, 2015
• Brunel University, London (U.K.)
• Senior Lecturer, 2011–2015
• Director of the Brunel Centre for the Study of Arbitration and Cross-Border Investment
• Developer of the Law with International Arbitration and Commercial Law LLB
• University of Warwick, Coventry (U.K.)
• Assistant Professor, 2007-2011
• White & Case, New York (U.S.A.)
• Associate, 2004–2007
• University of Michigan Law School, Ann Arbor, Michigan
• J.D., cum laude, 2004
• European University Institute, Florence, Italy
• Exchange Program, 2003
• Virginia Military Institute, Lexington, Virginia (U.S.A.)
• Adjunct Assistant Professor of Philosophy, 2001
• University of Virginia, Charlottesville, Virginia (U.S.A.)
• Graduate Study in Philosophy, 1998-2001
• University of Virginia President's Fellow
• St. John’s College, Annapolis, Maryland (U.S.A.)
• B.A., Liberal Arts, 1997