Joseph E Neuhaus

Practice Areas

Joe Neuhaus is an independent arbitrator and has served as chair, co-arbitrator and sole arbitrator in more than 35 arbitrations since his first appointment in 2001. He was a partner in the litigation group of Sullivan & Cromwell LLP for 30 years, from 1992-2021, and served as head of the firm’s arbitration group.

Joe is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators (FCIArb) and has had leadership roles in numerous arbitral institutions and organizations. He was chair of the Institute for Transnational Arbitration and remains on the ITA’s Executive Committee. Joe also chaired the New York City Bar Association’s International Commercial Disputes Committee and has led various projects for that Committee. He was a co-chair of the subcommittee that wrote the ground-breaking 2024 report on costs in international arbitration and chair of the subcommittees that wrote reports on statutes of limitation in arbitration in the United States and on procedures for asserting and evaluating privilege claims in international arbitration.

Joe co-chaired the International Bar Association Arbitration Guidelines and Rules Subcommittee when it revised the IBA Rules of Evidence. He is also an adjunct professor at NYU Law School, teaching Professional Responsibility.

A graduate of Dartmouth College and Columbia Law School, Joe was Editor-in-Chief of the Columbia Law Review and clerked for Justice Lewis F. Powell, Jr. of the United States Supreme Court, for Judge Howard M. Holtzmann on the Iran-United States Claims Tribunal, and for Judge Carl McGowan of the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit.

Career

Sullivan & Cromwell LLP, New York, N.Y., 1987-2024 (Partner 1992-2021, Arbitration Practice Coordinator; Of Counsel 2022-2024; Associate 1987-1991)

Covington & Burling, Washington, D.C., 1986-1987

Law Clerk to Howard M. Holtzmann, Iran-United States Claims Tribunal, 1984-1985

Law Clerk to Hon. Lewis F. Powell, Jr., United States Supreme Court, 1983-1984

Law Clerk to Hon. Carl McGowan, United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, 1982-1983

Professional Memberships

Arbitration-Related Professional Activities

Fellow, Chartered Institute of Arbitrators

International Bar Association Arbitration Guidelines and Rules Subcommittee

Co-Chair, 2020-2022 (responsible for revision of IBA Rules of Evidence)

Private Sector Adviser on the United States Delegation to the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL) Working Group on Arbitration, Vienna 2000, New York 2001, 2002 and 2006, Vienna 2010, New York and Vienna 2012-2016, New York 2018

Institute for Transnational Arbitration

Executive Committee member – current

Chair, June 2018-June 2021

Vice Chair, 2005-2018

Program Co-Chair, 2000-2005

Workshop Co-Chair, 2000

Board of Directors, CPR Institute for Conflict Prevention and Resolution, 2016-2023

Board of Directors, 2012-2016, Council, 2016-2023, American Arbitration Association

Executive Committee, New York International Arbitration Center, 2012-2019

Chair, International Commercial Dispute Committee of the New York City Bar Association, 2013-2016; Member, 2012-2013, 2016-present

Counsellor, American Society of International Law, 2016-2022

Member of the United States Delegation to UNCITRAL at its Eighteenth Session in Vienna at which the Model Law on International Commercial Arbitration was adopted, 1985

Executive Committee, New York International Arbitration Center, 2012-2019

Chair, International Commercial Dispute Committee of the New York City Bar Association, 2013-2016; Member, 2012-2013, 2016-present

Counsellor, American Society of International Law, 2016-2022

Member of UNCITRAL Arbitration Expert Group, 2001

Member of the United States Delegation to UNCITRAL at its Eighteenth Session in Vienna at which the Model Law on International Commercial Arbitration was adopted, 1985

Publications

"Statutes of Limitations in Arbitration in the United States," Report of the New York City Bar Association Committee on International Commercial Disputes, October 2025 (Chair)

“Awards of Costs in International Arbitration in New York: Current Approaches and Best Practices,” Report of New York City Bar Association Committee on International Commercial Disputes, June 2024 (Co-Chair)

“Procedures for Asserting and Evaluating Privilege Claims in International Arbitration,” Report of New York City Bar Association Committee on International Commercial Disputes, October 2023 (Chair and Principal Drafter)

“Presumptive Confidentiality in Arbitration Rules” in “Pro-Arbitration” Revisited (2023)

“The Virtues of Episodic Justice” in Reflections on International Arbitration: Essays in Honour of Professor George Bermann (2022)

Co-Editor, GAR Guide to Evidence in International Arbitration (2021, 2023, 2025)

Co-Author, “The 2020 IBA Rules on the Taking of Evidence in International Arbitration: A History and Discussion of the 2020 Revisions,” in GAR Guide to Evidence in International Arbitration (2021)

“The Enforceability of Legislative Stabilization Clauses,” in Practising Virtue: Inside International Arbitration (Charles N. Brower Festschrift) (2015)

Co-Author with Howard M. Holtzmann, Edda Kristjansdottir & Thomas W. Walsh, A Guide to the 2006 Amendments to the UNCITRAL Model Law on International Commercial Arbitration: Legislative History and Commentary (2015)

“U.S. Developments in Class Action Arbitration: What Comes Next?” in The Arbitration Review of the Americas (2011)

“Arbitration Under Expedited Discovery Procedures: What Are the Sacrifices?” in The Arbitration Review of the Americas (2010)

“Non-party Discovery in the United States,” in The Arbitration Review of the Americas (2009)

“The Autonomy of the Arbitration Agreement: Some Thoughts on the U.S. Experience,” in ICCA Yearbook (2006)

“Current Issues in the Enforcement of International Arbitration Awards,” 34 University of Miami Inter-American Law Review 23 (2004)

“Settlement and Release,” in Commercial Contracts: Strategies for Drafting and Negotiating (2001, 2014)

Co-Author with Howard M. Holtzmann, A Guide to the UNCITRAL Model Law on International Commercial Arbitration: Legislative History and Commentary (1989)

Education