Ambassador (Ret.) David Huebner, FCIArb, C.Arb, CollArb joined JAMS in 2017 following more than 25 years of practice experience in arbitration, cross-border disputes, and intellectual property practice, as well as government service. He has handled more than 375 arbitrations in the United States and three dozen jurisdictions around the world as neutral or advocate, and has extensive experience in the technology (including semiconductors, hardware, software, haptics, materials, AI, internet, gaming and new energy), life sciences (including pharma, biotech, clinical trials, medical devices, and healthcare), telecom, and entertainment (including film finance, VOD, rights acquisition, performance royalties, new technologies, and distribution) sectors. He also has substantial experience in government, state entity, and investment disputes.

Prior to becoming a JAMS neutral, Ambassador Huebner served as a partner in an AmLaw 100 law firm’s international arbitration and public international law practices. Previously, he has held senior positions in the Asia Pacific region, including as the American Ambassador to New Zealand and Samoa, chairman & CEO of a large international law firm, founding chief representative of an AmLaw 100 law firm's office in Shanghai, and special IPR policy assistant to a member of the National Diet of Japan in Tokyo.  In 2016, President Obama appointed him as one of the four American designees to the panel of arbitrators of the International Centre for the Settlement of Investment Disputes. He is a graduate of Princeton University (summa cum laude) and Yale Law School.

Ambassador Huebner is a Chartered Arbitrator and Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators, Fellow of the College of Commercial Arbitrators, former member of the ICC Commission on Arbitration and ADR, life member of the Council on Foreign Relations, and on the panels of arbitrators of the principal international and regional arbitral institutions. He has chaired the California Law Revision Commission as an appointee of three California governors (Gray Davis, Arnold Schwarzenegger, and Gavin Newsom) and was recently reappointed by Governor Newsom.

The Silicon Valley Arbitration and Mediation Center has consistently named Ambassador Huebner to its Tech List of the “world’s most accomplished technology neutrals.”  He was recently appointed to the inaugural arbitrator and mediator rosters of the Patent Mediation and Arbitration Centre of the European Union’s Unified Patent Court (which operates from dual seats in Ljubljana, Slovenia and Lisbon, Portugal).

Previously, he was named a Distinguished Fellow of the Auckland University of Technology’s Faculty of Business and Law; taught full-semester intellectual property courses at the University of Southern California’s Gould School of Law and the UCLA School of Law; and was a guest lecturer on intellectual property protection and related disputes risk management in cross-border commerce and investment at the USC Marshall School of Business.

ADR Experience and Qualifications

• Handled more than 375 arbitrations in three dozen jurisdictions around the world
• Particular experience in intellectual property, technology, life sciences, telecom/internet, entertainment/media, new energy, government/state entity, investment, finance, and related disputes
• Member of the Bars of CA, NY and DC and a solicitor in England & Wales
• Arbitrated under the rules of numerous institutions including International Chamber of Commerce (ICC), International Center for Dispute Resolution (ICDR), United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL), Zurich Chamber of Commerce, London Court of International Arbitration (LCIA), International Institute for Conflict Prevention & Resolution (CPR), China International Economic and Trade Arbitration Commission (CIETAC), American Arbitration Association (AAA), Singapore International Arbitration Centre (SIAC), and Hamburg Chamber of Commerce

• Recognized in Lexology Index: Arbitration 2026 Report – Highly Recommended (in association with Global Arbitration Review (GAR))
• Included on "International Arbitrators" list, Chambers USA, 2025
• Arbitrator and Mediator, Patent Mediation and Arbitration Centre, European Union’s Unified Patent Court, 2026
• Chartered Arbitrator and Fellow, Chartered Institute of Arbitrators
  • Chair of the Board of Trustees, 2024 & 2025
  • Trustee, Chartered Institute of Arbitrators (2020-2026), representing the Western Hemisphere on the global board of trustees
• Fellow, College of Commercial Arbitrators
  • President-elect, 2029 Term
• Annually named since 2018 to the Silicon Valley Arbitration and Mediation Center’s “Tech List” of the world’s leading technology neutrals
• Member, CPR Distinguished Neutrals, International, and Technology Panels
• Frequent lecturer at conferences, educational institutions, and professional organizations on topics of international arbitration, international law, intellectual property, current and potential use of technology and AI in dispute resolution, mediation & negotiation, and foreign policy
• Member of board of directors, Street Law Inc. (2018-2026)
• Prior member of the boards of numerous other educational, public service, civic, and professional organizations, including Pacific Council on International Policy, Swiss International Law School, Antarctic Heritage Trust, Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation, Los Angeles Gay & Lesbian Center, Princeton Alumni Corps, and Franklin Delano Roosevelt Center for Global Engagement
• Life member, Council on Foreign Relations
• Certain ambassadorial artifacts and papers taken into the Smithsonian Institution’s permanent collection of American history
• Awarded the U.S. Navy’s Distinguished Public Service Medal 

ADR Profiles

• "The Ambassador," Daily Journal, ADR Profile, January 19, 2019
• "Former Ambassador David Huebner Joins JAMS in LA," Daily Journal, ADR Profile, March 9, 2017

• Admitted to the Bars of California, New York, and the District of Columbia
• Admitted as a solicitor in England & Wales
• Partner, Arnold & Porter LLP, Los Angeles, 2014-2016
• US Ambassador to New Zealand and Samoa, 2009-2014
• Partner, Sheppard Mullin Richter & Hampton LLP, Shanghai & Los Angeles,  2005–2009
  • Founding managing partner of Shanghai office
  • Head of China Practice; Head of International Disputes Practice
• Partner, Coudert Brothers LLP, Los Angeles and other locations, 1992–2005 (Partner from 1995)
  • Chairman & CEO of the Firm;  member of the global Executive Board
• Associate, Irell & Manella, Los Angeles, 1987–1992
• Office of the Hon. Koji Kakizawa, Tokyo, 1984–1985
  • Special assistant to member of Japan’s National Diet (and later Foreign Minister of Japan)
• JD, Yale Law School, 1986
  • Editor-in-chief, Yale Journal on Regulation
  • Henry Luce Scholar
• AB, summa cum laude, Princeton University, 1982
  • Majored at the School of Public and International Affairs
  • Phi Beta Kappa; David Lawrence Scholar