James Reiman

Business Mediator | Reiman ADR

Mediator & Arbitrator · Attorney

James Reiman is an arbitrator and mediator of domestic and international commercial disputes. In addition to being an experienced commercial trial and business attorney, he is an experienced businessperson, as he sits on the boards of directors of public and private companies and has served as the CEO of public and private companies in the US, Canada and China. Jim teaches and qualifies senior attorneys in international arbitration as a faculty member and program director in the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators’ Fellowship training/qualification programs, and also teaches negotiation to senior executives, government officials and professionals as part of the Oxford Programme on Negotiation at the University of Oxford’s Saïd Business School. Jim began his career as a commercial litigator trying cases in Illinois State and Federal courts, and then transitioned his legal practice to business transactions and commercial/industrial real estate. After 18 years in private practice in Chicago, he began a business career, initially developing and managing the e-commerce business of a NASDAQ listed auctioneer of fine collectibles, and subsequently as the CEO of one of China’s largest retailers of cell phones. He also served as the managing member and principal of a US and Canadian company that created and sold aerodynamic enhancement devices for heavy duty trucks. As an attorney, he understands the complexities and nuances of business disputes and the process of domestic and international litigation and dispute resolution. As a businessman and consumer of legal services, he understands the business issues underlying commercial disputes and the challenges of satisfying all interested stakeholders. He is fluent in both “legalese” and “business-speak,” and brings his understanding of both to the dispute resolution process. As an arbitrator, he strictly conforms to the parameters of the applicable arbitration clause, striving to efficiently and fully decide all of the issues presented by the parties consistent with the terms of their agreement, the proven facts, and the law. Most arbitral rules impose upon the arbitrator a duty to effect an efficient and economical resolution of the dispute. He honors this duty by managing the process of the dispute, continuously balancing time, cost, and fairness. As a mediator, he is both evaluative and facilitative, and brings the parties to “yes” by ferreting out the issues at the heart of a dispute and finding acceptable solutions to those matters.