Thomas J Brewer

Practice Areas

Arbitration experience includes both domestic and international commercial arbitrations, with over 350 appointments as panel chair, neutral panelist arbitrator or sole arbitrator since becoming a full-time neutral in 2000. Substantial experience managing in-person hearings, virtual (e.g., Zoom) hearings, and applying various kinds of arbitration agreements, including agreements requiring international, domestic, “baseball” and other procedures. The cases have ranged from complex, multi-party business disputes with large amounts in controversy to a wide variety of other matters, of varying size, involving corporations, privately-held companies, LLC’s, partnerships, joint ventures, governmental entities and individuals. Prior cases have included a wide range of business and commercial disputes, principally in the following areas:

BUSINESS AND COMMERCIAL: Served as an arbitrator in many cases involving interpretation or enforcement of commercial contracts, including disputes related to LLC’s, partnerships, joint venture and joint operating agreements; sales of business/asset purchases and post-closing disputes; corporate governance and disputes between business co-owners; product sales, development, licensing, distribution and warranty disputes; insurance; international trade; commercial real estate; and many other kinds of business agreements and transactions.

ENERGY, OIL & GAS, ELECTRIC POWER: Oil and gas arbitrations have included participation agreement, area of mutual interest, marketing and trading, pipeline, refinery, natural gas gathering, treating, processing, transport and sales, contract interpretation, royalty, production curtailment, joint venture, petrochemical, sale of business and valuation disputes. Electricity arbitrations have included numerous power purchase agreements, tolling, transmission, joint operating, co-generation, PURPA, ISO/RTO, contract interpretation, wind, solar and photovoltaic projects, biomass, steam supply, project development and other types of disputes and agreements.

TECHNOLOGY/INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY: IP and technology arbitrations have included patent, royalty, product development and licensing disputes related to semiconductor, pharmaceutical, medical product, vaccine, telecom and other technologies, trade secret misappropriation and Lanham Act disputes, copyright, software and business acquisition-related IP disputes.

LLC, M&A and JOINT VENTURES: Substantial experience in arbitrations involving disputes between investors and business co-owners, including LLC members, M&A, joint operating and joint venture agreements, asset purchase, representations and warranties, post-closing purchase price and escrow adjustments, earnout provisions, tax-related acquisition disputes and non-competition disputes.

OTHER: Arbitration experience also includes numerous construction cases, ERISA multiemployer pension plan withdrawal liability disputes, class action and Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) collective arbitrations, insurance coverage, healthcare payor-provider reimbursement disputes, service as an ICDR Article 37 emergency arbitrator, and many other types of commercial cases.

Some examples of prior cases are posted below; others are available at www.tjbrewer.com - follow the prompt for Arbitration Experience.

Fellow, College of Commercial Arbitrators. Fellow, Chartered Institute of Arbitrators (FCIArb). Listed in Who's Who Legal: Arbitration, 2022 and prior years (WWL 2022 comments, based on peer interviews: “He is truly talented and insightful. . . a superior arbitrator, one of the finest with whom I have had the pleasure to sit. . . very experienced, very fair minded and very smart. . . an exceptional arbitrator.“) Listed in Best Lawyers in America for arbitration, 2022 and prior years. Ranked in Chambers USA and Chambers Global (2021) in the category of International Arbitration. Listed in Washington Super Lawyers, 2003-2022. Selected by Best Lawyers as Lawyer of the Year for arbitration in Seattle in 2015, 2017 and again for 2019.

Career

Self-employed full-time ADR neutral since 2000. Civil trial lawyer representing and counselling clients in commercial disputes 1975-2000. Partner, Wickwire Greene Crosby Brewer & Seward, 1994-2000; Partner (1981-94) and Associate (1975-81) Heller Ehrman White & McAuliffe, (including predecessor firm acquired by merger). Experience serving as an arbitrator, court-appointed special master, and mediator in commercial cases since 1986. Heavy arbitration caseload since about 1994.

Professional Memberships

Member of the ICDR's International Roster of arbitrators, the AAA’s Commercial and Large, Complex Case panels, and of the CPR Institute's Cross-Border, National Panel of Distinguished Neutrals and Commercial Real Estate panels of arbitrators. Member of the AAA’s National Energy panel, and of the CPR Institute's Energy, Oil & Gas panel of arbitrators. Member of the AAA's M&A and Joint Ventures panel of arbitrators. Member of the AAA/ICDR’s Aviation, Aerospace and National Security panel of arbitrators to handle high-value defense, cyber and security-related disputes in the aerospace, aviation and national security sectors. Substantial prior experience in arbitrations involving aviation, aerospace, software, railroad and government-related disputes.

Publications

Speaker, 2017 National Energy Arbitration Conference: “Resolving Energy Arbitrations in Times of Crisis,” CIArb, Houston; Contributing Author, THE COLLEGE OF COMMERCIAL ARBITRATORS GUIDE TO BEST PRACTICES IN COMMERCIAL ARBITRATION, 4th ed., Juris Net 2017 (and to the three prior editions); Speaker, 2016 AAA/ICDR National Panel Conference, “Red Flags and Risk Areas for Arbitrators: A Review of Recent Cases Challenging Arbitrator Authority,” New Orleans, 2016; Speaker, AAA Seminar: "Arbitration Advocacy for Courtroom Lawyers: Two Experienced Arbitrators Discuss What Works, and What Doesn't, in Arbitration," Denver, 2015; Contributing Author, THE LEADING PRACTITIONERS' GUIDE TO INTERNATIONAL OIL & GAS ARBITRATIONS, (Juris, Gaitis ed., 2015); (partial Listing.)

Expert in these Jurisdictions

Admitted to the bar in Washington, USA. U.S. and International arbitration practice.

Languages Spoken

English

Work Highlights

Examples of specific prior cases include:

• A domestic arbitration between a professional athlete and a manufacturer of athletic clothing and footwear arising out of an international licensing and promotional agreement (Panel Chair).

• An international arbitration between co-owners of a 100,000 barrel/day Texas oil and gas refinery and related trading entity arising out of a corporate governance dispute, resulting exercise of one owner's "put" rights and valuation of the refinery (Panel Chair).

• An international M & A arbitration between European and U.S. parties arising out of the sale of a software company involving alleged breaches of representations and warranties given by the sellers related to balance sheet and tax liabilities (Neutral Panelist).

• An international arbitration over disputes arising under a professional sports-related sponsorship and license agreement (Neutral Panelist).

• A nine-figure dispute between all of the Alaska Regional Corporations created pursuant to the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act involving interpretation of a settlement agreement. (Panel Chair).

• A dispute between a Class I railroad and eleven short lines over interpretation of the rate provisions in their freight operating agreements (Neutral Panelist).

• An international arbitration between British, Israeli and U.S. investors in a commercial real estate project in Nevada related to alleged breaches of the parties' development agreements, fiduciary duties and capital call obligations (Neutral Panelist).

• An international arbitration between U.S. and French parties following a fire at a Texas fuel storage facility concerning interpretation of a force majeure clause (Neutral Panelist).

• An international arbitration between a U.S. seller and a Japanese buyer over alleged breaches of an asset purchase agreement for a nanocrystal technology business (Sole Arbitrator).

• A commercial real estate arbitration involving decennial rent re-set appraisal and valuation issues related to the biotech campus buildings at a U.S. medical school (Neutral Panelist).

• A domestic energy arbitration involving claims for royalty income damages arising out of production curtailments and pipeline replacements in a large U.S. oil field (Panel Chair).

• An international construction arbitration relating to a large wind farm project in Mexico (Neutral Panelist).

• An international (UNCITRAL rules) arbitration involving a dispute over interpretation and application of a force majeure clause in a long-term LNG take-or-pay supply contract (Neutral Panelist).

• An arbitration between parties to an electric power tolling agreement involving claims for recovery of winter reliability penalties imposed by the New England ISO and counterclaims alleging miscalculation of availability charges (Panel Chair).

• An energy arbitration between an RTO and a transmission customer over alleged breaches of a service agreement (Panel Chair).

• A domestic energy arbitration between parties to an oil and gas participation agreement over interpretation and implementation of an “area of mutual interest” provision (Neutral Panelist).

• An energy arbitration involving alleged breaches of an agreement providing for development and financing of solar electric power projects for a California city (Neutral Panelist).

• A dispute between a natural gas, geothermal and electric power generator and an electric cooperative over alleged breaches of a long-term power purchase agreement following a catastrophic winter storm in Texas (Panel Chair).

• A wind energy dispute between the owner of a 5,000+ acre wind power generation project and a large public utility over alleged curtailment losses arising under a long-term power purchase agreement (Panel Chair).

• An international arbitration between a US software company and its Saudi Arabian joint venture partner (Panel Chair).

• A trade secret arbitration involving alleged misappropriation of a hedge fund's financial modelling technologies by two former employees who started a competing fund (Neutral Panelist).

• An international arbitration between a European manufacturer of dental handpieces, turbines, sterilizers and other dental instruments and US and Australian parties over alleged wrongful termination of an exclusive distribution agreement and misappropriation of trade secrets (Neutral Panelist).

• An international biotech arbitration between US and Swiss parties related to alleged breaches of a licensing agreement covering certain genotypes sold for use in a test kit for human papillomavirus (Neutral Panelist).

• A patent arbitration relating to "winglets" used on certain commercial airliners (Neutral Panelist).

• Additional examples available at www.tjbrewer.com.

Education