Gilbert K. Squires, P.E., BCS, FCCA, DCIArb

Gilbert K. Squires, PE, BCS, FCCA, DCIArb, is an accomplished neutral and a dual citizen of the United States and the Republic of Panama, with more than four decades of experience in global business, engineering, construction, oil and gas, power generation, and law. Mr. Squires has arbitrated and mediated numerous high-stakes cases worldwide. He is known for navigating complex cases, establishing respectful, empathetic environments, and fostering fair and effective resolutions.

Before joining JAMS, Mr. Squires served for over two decades on the AAA/ICDR complex business, construction, maritime, and energy rosters. Over a diverse 20-plus-year business career at Exxon Company USA (“Exxon”), Conoco Inc. (“Conoco”), and Vivendi-Universal Music Group (“UMG”), he advanced into a variety of senior and C-Suite roles and served as managing partner of a law firm and as outside general counsel, living and working globally in Indonesia, the Netherlands, Brazil, and Mexico City (with frequent operating business travel to Japan, Singapore, Hong Kong, Dubai, Kuwait, West Africa, South Africa, the Gulf countries, and Scandinavia/North Sea). Mr. Squires’ notable hands-on experience as a Texas-licensed Professional Petroleum Engineer early in his career gives him a unique perspective on construction, science, technology, power generation, major projects, and oil and gas-related disputes. He has worked in onshore and offshore drilling, production, workovers, fracking, mobilization, demobilization, and platform construction operations, including deepwater and ultra-deepwater exploration wells and natural gas operations such as Phoenix Part in Trinidad & Tobago. He was an early negotiator in Conoco’s Petrozuata joint venture with Maraven, a subsidiary of Petróleos de Venezuela, S.A. (PDVSA). The joint venture had upstream and downstream components. He also led “inside-the-fence” power generation projects tied to the local power grid. His years of operations and field-level engineering work make him a quick study of technical issues and enable him to fully grasp their nuances.

He advanced into worldwide operations, management, and executive positions, culminating in his appointment as president of Conoco Mexico Ltd. Mr. Squires attended a master’s program in business while working and later completed law school at night. He also worked in music technology management, establishing content-management organizations in Latin America, and later in municipal governance as part of his work as an attorney. Having served as a general counsel and in outside general counsel roles, combined with his other professional experience, Mr. Squires is intimately familiar with the full range of legal issues regarding franchising, multi-unit development, territory exclusivity, and operating a business on a worldwide scale. As a former Title Agent with Attorney’s Title – The Fund, he has a keen understanding of condominium, commercial, and residential construction real estate matters. From petroleum engineer and global oil executive to law firm founder, business counselor, and entrepreneur, Mr. Squires brings genuine, firsthand experience at every level of business, enabling him to immediately grasp the commercial stakes, operational realities, and financial mechanics that determine the outcome of complex disputes.

Mr. Squires is an active and respected member of the legal community. He served as the 103rd president of the Miami-Dade Bar Association (f/k/a Dade County Bar Association) and the 62nd president of the Miami Beach Bar Association and has served on several Florida Bar committees. He was a co-founding member of the Miami International Arbitration Society (MIAS). During the real estate foreclosure crisis, the Florida Supreme Court ordered the appointment of real estate foreclosure guardians ad litem to ensure due process and help move cases through the court system. Mr. Squires was routinely named both a Court-Appointed Receiver and a Guardian Ad Litem. Since 2014, he has served as Special Magistrate for the City of North Miami Beach on municipal law and code-enforcement matters. During 1999-2001, he led the establishment and implementation of UMG’s Content Management organization in Latin America. This involved working with music legal, publishing, artists & repertoire (“A&R”), and production departments to negotiate existing music agreements to allow the digitization of audio, video, graphics, and text files for subsequent storage and distribution of what is now ubiquitous music streaming and downloading, including related digital technologies.

He brings this experience to his work as an international and domestic arbitrator, mediator, and court-appointed neutral/special magistrate. Drawing on his significant litigation, transactional, corporate, and technical background, Mr. Squires is adept at virtual, hybrid, and in-person ADR, using virtual platforms to engage parties and counsel across multiple time zones. As an arbitrator, he crafts well-reasoned awards, manages complex multi-party hearings, and handles cross-border procedural matters. As a mediator, he emphasizes early interaction with counsel and parties through pre-mediation conferences and routinely follows up, often leading to resolution of matters that did not settle initially. In 2025, the Permanent Court of Arbitration (“PCA”) in The Hague, the Netherlands, considered Mr. Squires as a Tribunal Expert in a multi-entity offshore oil and gas arbitration in the Caspian Sea region (Kazakhstan).

Mr. Squires is fluent in English, Spanish, French, Portuguese, and Italian, and conversant in five other languages. He has successfully conducted arbitrations and mediations in Spanish, Portuguese, and French. Throughout his career, he has handled a wide range of cases, including cross-border disputes, foreign sovereign interface, aviation and maritime matters, and multilingual conflicts. He has handled matters across Asia-Pacific, the Americas, Europe, Africa, and the Middle East.

Over more than four decades, Mr. Squires has lectured, served on faculty, and moderated conferences across the Americas and beyond, including on the United Nations Convention on International Settlement Agreements Resulting from Mediation (the “Singapore Convention”). He appears on international Spanish-language television and radio programs, offering business and legal commentary on high-profile matters.