Ava has served as emergency, sole, chair and panel arbitrator in a variety of international commercial disputes. Before establishing her firm in 2015, she was a partner with a prominent international arbitration and litigation boutique for nearly a decade. She brings that practical hands-on experience and over 30 years of practice representing parties in international commercial disputes before arbitral tribunals and courts to the matters over which she sits as arbitrator.
She recently completed a visiting professorship at the University of Debrecen, Hungary where she instructed LLM and law students on “International Commercial Arbitration – Legal Framework and Practical Usage.” Ava is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators and a Chartered Arbitrator, a designation held by just 3% of CIArb's global membership. She is based in Miami, Florida and additional information is available at www.ajborrassolaw.com.
Tom Cunningham
Houston, Texas
Tom has been an active trial lawyer and arbitrator for over 50 years. A graduate of the University of Texas Law School, Tom joined Fulbright & Jaworski, L.L.P. in 1974 where he became a senior litigation partner. In 1998, he founded a boutique litigation firm to focus exclusively on the trial and arbitration of complex business cases.
Tom’s extensive trial and arbitration experience covers a variety of substantive areas including energy, oil and gas, securities, hospitality, contracts, business torts, fiduciary liability, intellectual property, estates, trusts, professional liability, officer and director liability, and product liability.
Tom is a Fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers, a member of the American Board of Trial Advocates, and a member of the American Law Institute. He is a fellow of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators, on the Panel of Distinguished Neutrals of the CPR International Institute for Conflict Prevention and Resolution, and the Commercial, Energy and Consumer Panels of the American Arbitration Association.
Tom is an avid supporter of the North American Branch, having served two terms on its Board of Directors.
Katherine Smith Dedrick
Denver, Colorado
Katherine Smith Dedrick, JD MBA FCIArb. Katherine is a former Chair of NAB and a former member of its Board. She is an experienced arbitrator, business counsel, commercial litigator, and the co-founder of an international disaster and insurance consulting company that was based in the US and Asia Pacific (sold in 2016). She has handled hundreds of complex commercial matters in the US and other countries (both common and civil law). Her experience includes domestic and international commercial contracts, business disputes, insurance coverage (all lines), reinsurance, environmental, construction, cyber issues, and bad faith. She is a neutral with the American Arbitration Association, the Singapore International Arbitration Centre, the Vancouver International Arbitration Centre and the International Centre for Dispute Resolution. Katherine spent considerable time living and working in the Asia Pacific managing large commercial and insurance disputes following disasters. In addition to her law degree, Katherine earned an MBA from The University of Chicago Booth School of Business studying in the U.S., Spain, and Singapore. She was an equity partner at a national US law firm where she served on its management committee and as chair of numerous other committees. She is also an independent trustee for an asset management company. She is currently the Managing Member of KSD Law LLC.
Lawrence A. “Larry” Saichek
Miami and Jacksonville, Florida
Larry is an AV-rated attorney and CPA specializing in real estate and corporate law, business formation and transactions, and arbitration and mediation. A graduate of the University of Wisconsin with a BBA in accounting and the University of Miami School of Law, Larry has made a career out of helping people. Whether it’s participating on a county grant committee, reading for the blind, working for the preservation of historical structures, or providing counsel to a colleague, Larry is well-regarded as someone others can rely upon. With over 30 years of ADR experience, Larry has served as chair, wing, and sole arbitrator in hundreds of arbitrations covering a myriad of subject matters from complex business disputes to financial industry issues to consumer cases. Larry has been mediating since 1992, having handled in excess of 2,000 cases.
David S. Mandel
Miami
David Mandel is an independent arbitrator and a Fellow with the Chartered Institute. He has over 35 years of dispute resolution experience and substantial expertise in banking, real estate, non-competition agreements and aviation. He was appointed as both Chair and wing arbitrator in International Centre for Dispute Resolution arbitrations and was recently an advocate in an ICC arbitration seated in Switzerland. He is also a licensed commercial pilot and is pleased to be involved in promoting the specialized Hague Court of Arbitration for Aviation.
David C McLauchlan
Chicago, Illinois, USA
David C. McLauchlan is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators, Litigation Counsel of America, and the American Academy of Alternative Dispute Resolution. He is a ARIAS-US certified Neutral Arbitrator and Umpire. Best Lawyers have recognized him, Best Law Firms, SuperLawyers, Leading Lawyers Network for 2024 and prior. He is the founder of The McLauchlan Law Group LLC and a former partner in the Locke Lord LLP law firm, where he Chaired the firm's London Insurance Market practice and served on the executive committee. His practice focuses on alternative dispute resolution, insurance and reinsurance law, complex business litigation, and business counseling. David is admitted to the Illinois Bar, the federal trial bar for the N. D. of Illinois, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit, Fifth Circuit, Federal Circuit, and the Bar of the U.S. Supreme Court.
David Sharp
Houston and Dallas, TX
David is an arbitrator located in Houston and Dallas. In addition to experience as an arbitrator, David has tried cases to verdict, arbitrations to award, and argued as appellate counsel. His representation of clients has spanned myriad types of disputes, including but not limited to, energy, construction, insurance, securities, antitrust, class action, intellectual property, and international disputes. He has been on the faculty of three ARFs and an ARM. David is currently on NAB’s Board of Directors; and, he served as NAB’s Chair throughout 2023 and 2024 and as its Vice Chair/Communications for the preceding two years. David is known to enjoy travel, good company, good food, learning, reading, and despite recent travails, Stanford football.
Tina Patterson
Germantown, MD
Ms. Tina Patterson is the Founder and Principal of Jade Solutions, LLC. Her expertise is in software development, intellectual property, government contracting, land use matters, hospitality, and employment contracts. She has supported local and national public engagement efforts via organizations such as America Speaks, RESOLVE, the National Institute for Civil Discourse, and the Kellogg Foundation. She serves on panel rosters for AAA, CPR, FINRA, and the D.C. Bar Attorney-Client Arbitration Board. Ms. Patterson is an International Mediation Institute-qualified mediator, and currently participates in the College of Commercial Arbitrators Associates Program Class 23-25. Ms. Patterson serves as Co-Chair of the ABA Section for Dispute Resolution (DR) Public Disputes and Consensus Building Committee, is a member of the DR Section Council, and serves on the board of the Academy of Court Appointed Neutrals.
