Band 2
Provided by Ariel Belen
Business & Commercial
Construction
Employment
Entertainment
Estate/Probate/Trust
Insurance
International & Cross Border
Personal Injury & Torts
Professional Liability
Sports
Hon. Ariel E. Belen (Ret.), FCIArb, FCollArb, is a seasoned domestic and international mediator and arbitrator who has resolved a plethora of wide-ranging legal disputes including complex business and commercial, insurance, international and cross-border, employment, entertainment and sports, construction, personal injury and torts, and real estate matters. He joined JAMS in 2012 after nearly an eighteen-year tenure on the bench that included service as an Associate Justice of the New York State Supreme Court, Appellate Division, Second Department and as Administrative Judge of the Supreme Court, Kings County (Brooklyn). He also helped create and presided over the New York State Supreme Court’s Commercial Division in Brooklyn.
Judge Belen has earned a reputation for being an intelligent, fair, and hardworking ADR professional who is able to resolve complex legal issues between deeply entrenched parties. Indeed, Chambers and Partners has identified Judge Belen as one of a select group of top mediators in the United States. Chambers’s reviewers note that he is “very personable and able to harmonize difficult personalities and issues such that everybody feels like the time spent negotiating a settlement is worthwhile” (2023) and that “[h]e understands the issues on a deep level and has a fantastic demeanor” (2024). Others emphasize that he is “creative in trying to find solutions to logjams,” “patient even in arduous negotiations,” “available and efficient . . . and cuts straight to the heart of the issue,” and “asks penetrating questions that cause both sides to think carefully” (2025).
Given his deep-seated judicial and ADR experience, Judge Belen is often retained as a court appointed neutral (special master/referee) in complex commercial and civil matters. He was appointed as the Federal Facilitator to guide the Joint Remedial Process in the New York City stop and frisk and trespass enforcement class action settlements as described in the Remedies Opinion in Floyd v. City of New York, 959 F. Supp. 2d 668 (SDNY 2013). In that role, he was charged with assisting the City of New York and its residents in developing sustainable reforms to the stop and frisk and trespass enforcement practices of the New York City Police Department through a community based civic engagement process. His Final Report and Recommendations, filed with the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York in May 2018, may be accessed here.
Judge Belen is also highly experienced, given his tenure on the bench and his years of service as an arbitrator and mediator, to serve as a neutral evaluator. He is available to assist parties in assessing in a common sense and balanced manner how a judge, jury or arbitrator might respond to a party’s claims, witnesses and experts, how best to position one’s dispositive motions, whether one should consider settlement or move forward with a trial, and what a party’s chances may be on appeal.
He is a highly sought-after domestic and international speaker and trainer for ADR-related topics. He has presented at ADR training and continuing legal education programs for judges, attorneys, and business leaders in the United States, Guatemala, Puerto Rico, and Mexico and also serves as Co-Chair of the Litigation and Dispute Resolution Section of the Hispanic National Bar Association (HNBA). He is a fellow of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators (FCIArb), a fellow of the College of Commercial Arbitrators (FCollArb), a member of the International Mediation Institute, and the co-author of New York Trial Notebook (James Publishing, 2008), an 850-page comprehensive practice treatise for the trial of civil cases.
Judge Belen is also a member of the Cornell Law School Dean's Advisory Council and a member of the Board of Advisors of the Cornell University School of Industrial and Labor Relations, Scheinman Institute on Conflict Resolution.
He is fluent in Spanish and can effectively communicate with Spanish speaking litigants and clients in all matters.
Fellow, Chartered Institute of Arbitrators (FCIArb)
Fellow, College of Commercial Arbitrators (FCollArb)
Member, Cornell Law School Dean's Advisory Council
Member, Board of Advisors, Scheinman Institute on Conflict Resolution at the Cornell University School of Industrial and Labor Relations
Life Member, Cornell University Council
Provided by Chambers
Provided by Chambers
Judge Belen is one of the best mediators I have ever had the privilege to work with. He demonstrates deep understanding of both the business and legal aspects of cases and works effectively by communicating directly with each participant.
Judge Belen goes above and beyond in learning the facts of the cases, the pressure points and the intangibles involved.
He did an outstanding job as a mediator and really understood the complex issues of the case.
Judge Belen is one of the best mediators I have ever had the privilege to work with. He demonstrates deep understanding of both the business and legal aspects of cases and works effectively by communicating directly with each participant.
Judge Belen goes above and beyond in learning the facts of the cases, the pressure points and the intangibles involved.
He did an outstanding job as a mediator and really understood the complex issues of the case.