The Arbitration Management Conference: A Blueprint for an Orderly Hearing

Theodore K. Cheng is an arbitrator and mediator with the American Arbitration Association (AAA), the CPR Institute, Resolute Systems, and several federal and state courts, principally focusing on intellectual property, entertainment, and technology disputes. He was also appointed to the Silicon Valley Arbitration & Mediation Center’s 2016 List of the World’s Leading Technology Neutrals. As a neutral, Mr. Cheng has conducted nearly 350 arbitrations and mediations, including commercial and business disputes, breach of contract and negligence actions, trade secret theft, employment discrimination claims, wage-and-hour disputes, and intellectual property infringement contentions. He serves on the Council of the AAA and the Board of the Justice Marie L. Garibaldi American Inn of Court for ADR. He is also the Co-Chair of the Mediation Committee of the New York State Bar Association’s Dispute Resolution Section and a Trustee of the New Jersey State Bar Association’s Dispute Resolute Section. He also serves on the New Jersey Supreme Court’s Arbitration Advisory Committee and the Committee on Complementary Dispute Resolution.

Mr. Cheng also practices in intellectual property and general commercial litigation with a focus on trademarks, copyrights, patents, trade secrets, and other intellectual property matters. With 20 years of experience handling a broad array of business disputes in federal and state courts, he counsels high net-worth individuals and small to middle-market business entities in industries as varied as high-tech, telecommunications, entertainment, consumer products, fashion, food and hospitality, retail, and financial services. Mr. Cheng typically formulates and advises clients and their in-house counsel on litigation and dispute resolution strategy, often striving to suggest innovative and creative ways to resolve conflicts. He serves as a Trustee of the Copyright Society of the U.S.A. and as the Co-Chair of its New York Chapter. In 2007, he was named one of the Best Lawyers Under 40 by the National Asian Pacific American Bar Association. He is licensed to practice in both New York and New Jersey.

Mr. Cheng received his A.B. cum laude in Chemistry and Physics from Harvard University and his J.D. from New York University School of Law, where he served as the editor-in-chief of the Moot Court Board. Before joining the firm, he was a senior litigator at several prominent national law firms. He was also a marketing consultant in the brokerage operations of MetLife Insurance Company, where he was designated a Chartered Life Underwriter and Chartered Financial Consultant, and held a Series 7 General Securities Representative registration. Mr. Cheng served as a law clerk to the Honorable Julio M. Fuentes of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit and the Honorable Ronald L. Buckwalter of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.

Mr. Cheng is a member of several bar and professional associations, for which he serves on various ADR, litigation, and intellectual property sections and committees. He frequently writes and speaks on ADR and intellectual property issues.

Deborah Masucci is a full time mediator and arbitrator as well as Chair and Board Member of the International Mediation Institute (IMI).

She has been appointed as an arbitrator in over 150 matters covering employment, commercial, breach of contract, insurance coverage, and professional fee disputes. Deborah has been appointed to mediate matters involving employment, insurance coverage, business interruption, commercial business, and breach of contract. She is on the American Arbitration Association Commercial and Employment panels, the American Health Lawyers Association panels, the ICC Panel of Experts, and a member of the American College of Civil Trial Mediators as well as the International Arbitration Club of New York.

Most recently she established and led American International Group’s dispute resolution program. She previously held senior positions at JAMS – The Resolution Experts and led the dispute resolution program at FINRA for 15 years.

She is a global expert in alternative dispute resolution and dispute management with over thirty years’ experience in promoting the effective use of ADR in many capacities. She is a published author on ADR issues and frequently speaks on the topic at legal and bar association meetings.

She was former Chair of the ABA Section for Dispute Resolution where she was a founding member of Women in Dispute Resolution and co founder of Minorities in Dispute Resolution.  She is Chair-Elect of the NYSBA Dispute Resolution Section.

Deborah is a member of the Board of Editors for the Securities Arbitration Commentator and serves on the Board of Advisors for “Arbitrator Intelligence”.

She is co-author of a Chapter on ADR Providers for ADR in Employment Law, and author of a Chapter on Securities Dispute Resolution for the Dispute Resolution Handbook.