Louis B. Kimmelman is an independent arbitrator
Louis B. Kimmelman is an independent arbitrator and New York qualified lawyer with over forty years of experience in resolving international commercial, construction and investor-state disputes. He teaches courses on international arbitration and litigation and speaks and writes frequently on international dispute resolution topics. Mr. Kimmelman is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators (FCIArb).
Mr. Kimmelman has acted as counsel and arbitrator in a broad range of international disputes involving corporate parties and sovereign entities. Prior to January 2021, he was a partner in the New York office of Sidley Austin LLP, where he had been co-leader of Sidley’s global international arbitration practice. Before joining Sidley, Mr. Kimmelman had been a partner in the New York offices of Allen & Overy LLP (2006-2013) and O’Melveny & Myers LLP (1988-2006), where he was responsible for leading the international arbitration practice in the Americas.
Mr. Kimmelman is active in the international arbitration community. He is Chair of the New York International Arbitration Center (NYIAC); is co-chair of the annual Fordham International Arbitration and Mediation Conference; and was an Adviser to the American Law Institute project on the Restatement of the U.S. Law of International Commercial and Investor-State Arbitration. He served as a member of the organizing committee of the New York Arbitration Week since 2019. He is a signatory to the ERA Pledge and has supported various events organized by ArbitralWomen.
Mr. Kimmelman served for more than 15 years as a member of the ICC Commission on Arbitration and was Chair of the Arbitration Committee of the U.S. Council for International Business (USCIB), the ICC National Committee for the United States. He is also former Chair of the International Commercial Disputes Committee of the New York City Bar.
Mr. Kimmelman teaches international arbitration and international litigation courses at Brooklyn Law School and Georgetown University Law Center. He also coaches the Brooklyn Law School Vis International Commercial Arbitration Moot team.
Mr. Kimmelman is ranked in various international arbitration directories, including Who’s Who Legal, Chambers USA, and Chambers Global. Arbitrators and peers note that he is “a very smart arbitrator who makes effective points and valuable contributions"; he is "very fair, measured and effective"; and "is focused on the issues, very collegial and really good to work with."
Mr. Kimmelman is admitted to practice in New York and New Jersey and has testified as an expert witness on New York law. He received his B.A. from Yale College and his J.D. from Yale Law School and clerked for the Honorable Leonard I. Garth of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit.