Richard F Ziegler

Practice Areas

Richard F. Ziegler is an experienced arbitrator, having served as chair, sole or co-arbitrator in more than 100 arbitration proceedings administered by the major institutions worldwide and ad hoc. His experience as arbitrator, and previously as outside litigation counsel and as general counsel of a major global diversified technology company, has involved financial services, pharmaceuticals, medical devices, biotech, M&A, oil & gas, renewable energy, aviation, chemicals, manufacturing, software, professional services, insurance, and patents. The value of the disputes in which he has served as arbitrator has ranged from less than US$1 million to more than US$1.5 billion.

Career

Before becoming a full-time arbitrator, Mr. Ziegler was Senior Vice President, Legal Affairs & General Counsel of the 3M Company in St. Paul, Minnesota, where he led a department of more than 150 lawyers in 24 countries. Previously he was a partner at Cleary, Gottlieb, Steen & Hamilton for nearly 20 years, ultimately serving as coordinator of its litigation practice in New York and a member of its Executive Committee.

After his tenure at 3M he joined Jenner & Block as co-chair of its international arbitration practice and managing partner of its then-new New York office and served on its Policy Committee. In the early part of his career Mr. Ziegler served in the United States Department of Justice as an Assistant United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York. Upon retiring from Jenner & Block in 2019 he co-founded AcumenADR LLC with Noah Hanft, former Global General Counsel and Chief Franchise Officer of MasterCard Worldwide and former CEO of the CPR Institute, to support their work as ADR neutrals. More information is available at www.acumenadr.com (and on the firm's profile on the Chambers site).

Mr. Ziegler is a member of the NY bar and a former member of the Minnesota bar.

Professional Memberships

Mr. Ziegler is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators and the Colege of Commercial Arbitrators and serves on CCA's Board of Directors; he previously served on the Boards of the International Institute for Conflict Prevention & Resolution ("CPR") and CPR Dispute Resolution Services. He is a member of the “Tech List” panel of arbitrators of the Silicon Valley Arbitration and Mediation Center and the arbitrator rosters maintained by the AAA-ICDR and other institutions. He is a member of the International Arbitration Club of New York, a former member of the ICC Task Force on Disability Inclusion in International Arbitration and a former Chair of the Committee on Professional Ethics of the New York State Bar Association.

Publications

Mr. Ziegler's recent publications include:​ • Co-Author, Ch. 13 ("Award Writing"), "Commercial Arbitration Training for Arbitrators and Litigators: A Comprehensive Training by Leading Practitioners," C. Moxley, E. Sussman, L. Kuck, eds., NYSBA 2025; ​ • Co-Author, Ch. 12 ("The Merits Hearing"), "The CCA Guide to Best Practices in Commercial Arbitration," 5th ed., 2025; ​ • Co-Chair, Member, CPR Arbitrator Disclosure Task Force, CPR’s “Guidelines for Arbitrator Disclosure,” May, 2024​ • Co-Chair, Drafting Subcommittee, “The Functus Officio Problem in Modern Arbitration and a Proposed Solution,” NY City Bar Arbitration Committee, April 2021​ • Task Force Chair, “CPR’s Annotated Model Procedural Order for Remote Video Arbitration Proceedings,” CPR, April 21, 2020 and updated edition, August 26, 2021​ ​

His recent speaking engagements include: ​ • Moderator, “Future of Patent Disputes: Embracing Arbitration,” GAR Live: Technology Disputes, New York, February, 2025​ • Speaker, “Arbitrator Disclosure Issues and Conflicts of Interests,” CCA Webinar, January, 2025​ • Speaker, “Arbitration Unlocked: Cracking the Code” AAA/ICDR Pre-Recorded Arbitration Advocacy Practice Tips Series, “Motions” segment, first available May, 2024​ • Faculty, CIArb-NY/Columbia Law School “Comprehensive Course on International Arbitration,” September, 2024;​ • Lecturer, "Choice-of-Law in International Arbitration," CIArb-NY Accelerated Route to Fellowship Program, New York, December 2023.

Personal

Mr. Ziegler is commited to helping achieve arbitration’s potential for prompt, cost-efficient and fair dispute resolution. In three recent matters in which the parties jointly sought expedited proceedings, he succeeded in conducting hearings and issuing final, reasoned awards within 25 days of his appointment in one case and within 90 days of his appointment in the other two.

Industry Sector Expertise

For the sectors with which Mr. Ziegler has experience please see "Practice Areas" above. The controversies he has arbitrated have arisen from supply contracts, joint venture agreements, merger & acquisition agreements, collaboration agreements, manufacturing agreements, financial instruments, investment management contracts, research & development and marketing agreements, distributorship agreements, partnership agreements, stockholder agreements, recruiting and employment agreements, intellectual property licenses and restrictive covenants. In addition to breach of contract, he has adjudicated claims for alleged breaches of fiduciary duties, fraud, competition law, unfair competition statutes, patent and copyright infringement, tortious interference with contract, other business torts and assorted statutory violations.

Expert in these Jurisdictions

Mr. Ziegler has arbitrated matters governed by the laws of New York, Delaware, California, Massachusetts, Connecticut and Texas, as well as the laws of England, Switzerland, Italy, Greece, Germany, Norway, Japan and Thailand.

Languages Spoken

English; rudimentary French

Education

Awards