Giuseppe De Palo , Esq.

Giuseppe De Palo, Esq., is an international mediator and arbitrator who has spent nearly 30 years helping companies, governments and NGOs resolve high-stakes conflicts quickly and cost-effectively. Recognized worldwide for his work, he has guided more than 2,500 disputes to settlement across 60 countries and among parties from more than 90 nations. In his decades-long career in ADR, he has mediated and arbitrated a wide spectrum of single- and multi-party cross-border disputes in diverse areas including complex business and commercial, intellectual property, banking/financial services, construction, energy, tort and insurance law.

In recent years he has devoted particular attention to global trade mediation, guiding exporters and importers through conflicts triggered by sanctions, supply chain breakdowns, and geopolitical turbulence in an age of fast-changing regulations and volatile markets. He has also advised multinational corporations, public institutions, and international bodies on integrating environmental, social, and governance (ESG) principles, including alignment with the United Nation’s (U.N.) Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), into their operational and trade practices. 

Based in New York City, Mr. De Palo also maintains an active domestic practice. He has mediated complex business and commercial, partnership, employment, real estate, and tort disputes among U.S. parties in both state and federal forums. His employment experience includes matters involving discrimination (race, gender, age, disability, sexual orientation, and national origin), harassment, retaliation, hostile work environment, wrongful termination, sexual assault and related misconduct, and whistleblower protection, often involving senior executives and C-suite leadership. These matters arise under federal and state frameworks, including Title VII of the Civil Rights Act, the New York City and New York State Human Rights Laws, and analogous statutes across jurisdictions.

Mr. De Palo is also at the forefront of the conversation on artificial intelligence (AI) in ADR. He has served as a moderator and/or featured speaker on panels exploring the impact of AI on employment law and workplace responsibility, and conceived and hosted one of the first live “human-versus-AI” mediation competitions, pitting his own skills against several generative AI platforms to test whether machines can replicate the nuances of facilitated negotiation. The program has since been staged in more than half a dozen capital cities on four continents, sparking lively debate among practitioners, policymakers, and technologists about the responsible integration of AI into dispute resolution processes.

Organizations grappling with high-value disputes, whether domestic cases in New York or complex cross-border matters abroad, consistently rely on Mr. De Palo for mediation strategies that keep commerce moving and preserve critical relationships. He is a skilled communicator who possesses the skills, patience, and creativity needed to navigate complex and emotionally-charged cross-border and domestic disputes across the proverbial finish line. 
 

ADR Experience and Qualifications

• Highly sought-after domestic and international speaker on ADR-related topics. His speaking engagements include presentations before the New York City Bar Association (Labor & Employment Committee, In-House Counsel Committee), the Federal Bar Association (FBA), the Silicon Valley Arbitration and Mediation Center (SVAMC), the Association for Conflict Resolution (ACR-GNY), Columbia Law School, Cardozo Law School, and the Center for Law and Technology at Berkeley Law, as well as cross-border and international law conferences worldwide including London International Disputes Week, the American Bar Association International Law Section Annual Conference, and California International Arbitration Week, among others.
• Prolific author, and recipient of Mondaq Spring 2026 Thought Leadership Award, whose articles have appeared in the New York State Bar Association’s New York Dispute Resolution Lawyer, The American Lawyer, The New York Law Journal, Reuters Legal News, Mealey’s International Arbitration Report, Mondaq, and ALM|Law.com and/or been translated into multiple languages.
• Seasoned ADR professional who is also frequently engaged at early stages and in post-incident contexts, assisting organizations and individuals in addressing conflict before escalation or in restoring—or, where necessary, responsibly concluding—working relationships after disputes have surfaced.
• Advisor to parliaments and ministers of justice or economics on the modernizing of their mediation frameworks.
• Founder and President of Dialogue Through Conflict Foundation (since 2022), served as Ombudsman for the United Nations Funds and Programmes (2015-2022), and conceived, co-founded and chaired ADR Center in Italy (1998-2015).
• International Professor of Alternative Dispute Resolution Law and Practice, Mitchell Hamline School of Law (2002-2021).
• Fluent in English and Italian and comfortable mediating in Spanish and French.