Charles J. Moxley, Jr., Esq. – Arbitrator and Mediator

• Fellow, College of Commercial Arbitrators
• Fellow, Chartered Institute
  of Arbitrators
• Adjunct Professor of Law, Fordham Law School
• Distinguished ADR
  Practitioner in Residence, Benjamin N. Cardozo
  School of Law
• Attorney at Law

Contact Information

Charles J. Moxley, Jr.
MoxleyADR LLC
75 East End Avenue
New York, NY 10028
(917) 699-8801
cmoxley@moxleyadr.org

Charles Moxley’s Experience

As an arbitrator and litigator for over 35 years and a mediator for over fifteen, Mr. Moxley has had experience in a wide range of cases in the commercial, securities, healthcare, insurance, employment, energy, IP and other areas. He has taken extensive training in the ADR area and has served as a trainer for the American Arbitration Association, CPR, and the Dispute Resolution Section of the New York State Bar Association, teaching others how to be effective arbitrators, conducting their cases in such a way as to achieve for parties and counsel the promise of arbitration—expeditious, efficient, and fair proceedings, consistent with the needs of each case and the parties’ arbitration agreement and chosen arbitration rules.

Following are examples of the wide range of cases in which Mr. Moxley has served as mediator.

Mediations

• Accounting:  mediated accounting malpractice claims;
• Attorney/client:  mediated numerous fee disputes among attorneys and clients. Example: claim for attorneys’ fees for services rendered to a co-op, with issues centering around the authority of the co-op’s President;
• Art Law:  mediated dispute between artist and art dealer as to their respective rights over the artist’s paintings;
• Bankruptcy and Liquidation:  mediated disputes over real estate projects facing bankruptcy; disputes over liquidations of businesses following fall-outs among founders/owners;
• Banking:  mediated dispute concerning bank’s loss of contents of safety deposit boxes;
• Business Divorces:  mediated $6 million dispute involving two litigations between outside and inside investors in film cutting business; dispute among family members over the break-up/sale of the family’s manufacturing business allegedly worth some $5 million;
• Commercial:  mediated claim for computer consulting and related services; claim based on defendant delicatessen’s alleged breach of agreement permitting plaintiff to supply internet services;
• Computer Services:  mediated dispute over amounts claimed under computer consulting and related services agreement; dispute concerning delicatessen's alleged breach of contract permitting contractor to supply internet services in the delicatessen;
• Condominiums:  mediated dispute involving water damage to Brooklyn condominiums;
• Construction:  mediated dispute between owner, general contractor and subcontractor over construction work and related mechanics lien; dispute over provision of energy saving technology;
• Coop Apartment Building:  mediated dispute concerning $700,000 in attorneys’ fees for services rendered to a co-op at the behest of the President of the co-op, who allegedly acted without authority;
• Deal Mediation:  mediated issues concerning acquisition rights of minority shareholders of securities firm;
• Executive Employment:  mediated disputes concerning respective rights of discharged executives and former employers, including case involving whether general counsel of public company was terminated for cause and issues as to his contractual and legal rights upon termination; dispute concerning alleged breach by former officer of educational training company of non-compete and confidentiality obligations and alleged misappropriation of company assets; termination of co-managing director/founder of a securities firm based on alleged thefts;
• Hedge Funds:  mediated claim by hedge fund for $3 million break-up fee based on letter of understanding with Manhattan real estate company;
• Hospitality:  mediated dispute among owners/developers of several hotels as to their respective rights and obligations;
• Insurance:  mediated several coverage disputes and dispute concerning contract rights of dealer for national company providing medical services to insurance companies in connection with sale of life insurance; disputes concerning reinsurance;
• Intellectual Property:  mediated disputes over IP in connection with business break-ups;
• International: mediated numerous international disputes involving such matters as investments, construction projects, and sales of goods; dispute involving investment in real estate in Tbilisi, Georgia;
• Joint venture:  mediated dispute concerning joint venture by two pharmaceutical companies with respect to development of drug;
• Law Firms/Lawyers:  mediated dispute over whether General Counsel of public company was terminated for cause and economic issues as to his claim under his contract; claim by a law firm against two of its former partners for alleged over-drawing of capital accounts and expense account issues; dispute between partner and law firm over conflicts that emerged based on the partner’s prior relationships;
• Mergers and Acquisitions:  mediated dispute arising out of the sale of assets of a company engaged in the business of manufacturing paint for private labeling;
• Mortgages/derivatives:  mediated disputes over sales of portfolios of mortgage loans; dispute over $30,000,000 of mortgages on a Manhattan residential building arranged by an allegedly unfaithful officer of the corporate owner of the property and his alleged theft of such monies; foreclosure on mortgage of over $120 million on Manhattan real estate;
• Pharmaceuticals:  mediated dispute involving joint venture by two pharmaceutical companies over development of a drug;
• Professional Associations:  mediated dispute concerning accounting firm’s termination of a partner; dispute concerning alleged $840,000 over-drawing of capital accounts by former partners of law firm and nonpayment of their share of expenses; and
• Real Estate:  mediated action to foreclose on $120 million mortgage on Manhattan properties; $30,000,000 multiparty international dispute involving four litigations arising out of mortgages on a prime Manhattan residential building by an allegedly unfaithful officer of the owner of the property and out of certain alleged thefts by that officer; dispute with respect to alleged $1.2 million price for a Japanese hotel chain’s option on a developer’s contract rights on a block of real estate parcels intended for construction of a hotel; dispute among majority and minority owners of Manhattan low income residential building valued at $4 million as to the management of the building and the possibility of a buy-out by one faction or the other; dispute among investors in hotel chain; dispute over rights to hotels; dispute among family members to rights to extensive real estate properties in New York.

Representative Issues Mediated

• valuations and economic viability of portfolios of mortgages and claimed contractual right of buyer to put individual mortgages back to seller;
• respective rights and obligations of unit owners and condominium concerning water damage to apartments and delays in re-construction;
• rights under international camera supply agreement;
• contractual issues concerning accounting firm’s termination of partner;
• contractual and legal rights and obligations of discharged executives and former employers, including as to cause, compensation, severance, expenses, benefits, outplacement, stock options, pensions, confidentiality, proprietary information, non-competition, and non-disparagement;
• contractual and legal rights of partners, controlling shareholders and others within business entities and professional associations upon business divorces;
• valuations of business entities and investments;
• facilitating parties' negotiation of purchase and sale of majority interests in securities firm;
• enforceability of break-up fee provision in letter of understanding between hedge fund and real estate company;
• interpretation of contract language;
• bases for admission of parol evidence;
• legal prerequisites for liquidated damages;
• distinction between liquidated damages and penalties;
• legal significance of contract parties' course of dealing;
• waiver of contractual rights;
• statute of frauds;
• authority of corporate officer to bind company to mortgage where officer ostensibly had authority, but bank was allegedly on notice of red flags;
• impact of cultural differences as to intent concerning enforceability of oral agreements;
• lawyer's potential liability based on opinion letter as to authority of corporate officer, where lawyer allegedly was on notice of red flags;
• interpretation of coverage and exclusion provisions and conditions of insurance policies, underwriting intent, representations, custom and usage, industry practice, notice, waiver, and estoppel;
• effect of lawyers' delays in submitting bills on right to collect on them;
• authority of residential co-op's president to permit co-op's lawyers to engage in level of litigative activity exceeding estimates;
• question of whether it was malpractice in an arbitration for lawyer to demand attorneys’ fees, exposing client to being charged with other side's attorneys’ fees;
• impact on law partners' agreement as to their respective draws when the partners thereafter filed individual and partnership returns based on amounts actually drawn rather than on agreed amounts;
• whether law firm's conduct at the time two partners withdrew constituted firm's consent to terms of the withdrawal, waiving later claims for retroactive adjustments;
• enforceability of contract which small business owner who spoke limited English signed without reading;
• questions whether alleged deficiencies in providing internet services constituted legal basis for owner’s withdrawal from services agreement; and
• legal advice given as to implications of various possible settlement approaches.

Mediator Style & Process Preferences

Mediation offers a powerful alternative to traditional dispute resolution. Having spent a lifetime litigating cases, taking and defending hundreds of depositions, reviewing or supervising the review of probably millions of pages of documents, dealing with e-discovery, briefing and arguing countless motions, trying cases, arguing appeals, and presiding over hundreds of arbitrations, I never cease to be amazed at the extent to which mediation offers a way for parties to come to grips with realities of a case and resolve it to their satisfaction without the time, expense, uncertainties, and inconvenience of continued litigation or arbitration.

I work closely with counsel in advance of the mediation to assure that, to the extent possible, all necessary people will be present, and each side will have the information it needs to evaluate and settle the case. These advance telephone calls with counsel and at times parties contribute greatly to the success of a mediation.

I get as up-to-speed on the facts and law of each case as available information permits. I listen carefully and remember that each case has its own unique facts, circumstances, and personalities.

In some cases parties have strong feelings about the dispute and need to tell the other side and the mediator what they think and feel in a joint session. Parties often want to hear the other side's statements of its view of the world and take stock of the situation. Joint sessions can be important in such cases before parties can move to the next level of assessing potential risks, costs, time-factors, and inconvenience of not settling.

There are also cases in which feelings run perhaps too high to start with a joint session or in which parties are fully cognizant of one another’s views and evidence and eager to move directly to negotiating. In such cases, the new line of communication and independent perspective I bring to the table can be key to settlement. I conference questions as to approach with counsel in advance to understand the background and get a sense of where the parties are when coming into the mediation.

Progress can often be made by going through the process of reality-checking and risk-analysis, aided hopefully by my independent perspective and experience. It is always helpful when opportunities––sometimes in surprising and unexpected ways––can be found to "enlarge the pie" for parties' mutual benefit.

I believe it best when resolution comes from the parties, but am prepared to be evaluative when it seems helpful and parties want it. I will not provide an evaluation or mediator's proposal in joint session unless both sides want me to do so.

When settlement is elusive, it is important to keep the conversation going. Many cases settle at the mediation session, but perseverance is important in ones that don't. I follow up and find that parties often reach settlement in the ensuing weeks or months based on continued discussion and time to reflect.

Specialties

• Accounting
• Business Divorces
• Commercial
• Employment
• Healthcare & Life Sciences
• Insurance
• Intellectual Property
• International
• Real Estate
• Securities

Locations

New York, New York