Jonathan Fitch
Arbitrator and Commercial Litigator at Fitch Law Partners LLP
Experience
Extensive experience in international and domestic arbitration as emergency arbitrator, sole arbitrator, panelist and panel chair in large and complex matters involving exclusive technology supply and service agreements, telemetric technologies, life sciences, medical device technologies, pharmaceutical manufacture and supply agreements, patent license agreements, FRAND, patent exhaustion, proprietary information, invention assignment, intellectual property, FIFRA, franchise agreements, area development agreements, software, firmware and hardware agreements, support and maintenance service agreements, 2G and 3G mobile communications technologies, sensor technologies, aqueous ozone generation technology, electronic payment processing systems, global motion picture distribution, motion picture revenue participation agreements for the PRC, employment agreements, at-will employment, non-solicit and non-competition agreements, manufacturing rights, close corporation disputes, liquidation of hedge funds, valuation of shareholder interests and terms of shareholder buyouts, fiduciary duty, freeze-out, waste, derivative claims, securities purchase agreements, professional liability, insurance coverage, brokerage of life and other personal lines of insurance policies, commissions for brokerage/productions of insurance policies, Fair Credit Reporting Act, multiparty and cross-border disputes.
Work History
Commercial litigator, arbitrator and Managing Partner, Fitch Law Partners LLP, a 23-lawyer Boston litigation boutique recognized as a US News & World Report Best Law Firm in America, 1984 – Present; Associate, Bingham Dana & Gould (later merged with Morgan Lewis), 1982 – 1984.
Cases
• Arbitrator in ICDR case involving an agreement to provide development services and to manufacture and supply a sterile, pyrogenic-free liquid pharmaceutical in a 2cc vial. • Arbitrator in ICDR case arising out of a patent license agreement involving 2G and 3G mobile communications technology. • Arbitrator in AAA case regarding consultant agreement and patents for cranio-maxillofacial fixation system. • Arbitrator in ICDR case involving non-competition and misappropriation of confidential information pertaining to patented aqueous ozone generation technology. • Arbitrator in ICDR case arising out of engineering development, license and partnership agreement for mobile wallet and other payment applications. • Arbitrator in AAA case involving software, firmware and hardware agreements for an electronic payment processing system for an airport’s parking operations. • Arbitrator in ICDR arbitration regarding international sales and distribution agreements for audio technology. • Emergency arbitrator in ICDR arbitration involving sensor technology use in sports. • Emergency arbitrator in ICDR arbitration of liquidation of hedge fund. •. Emergency arbitrator in ICDR arbitration involving closing of $12 billion merger and acquisition. • Chair in AAA case concerning ownership rights in technology funds. •. Chair in AAA case regarding disputed insurance coverage for asbestos remediation costs. • Arbitrator in international case concerning gaming franchise. • Arbitrator in AAA case concerning stock purchase agreement. • Arbitrator in ICDR case arising out of securities purchase agreement. • Arbitrator in AAA case involving service agreement among alliance of insurance companies. • Chair in an ad hoc arbitration regarding the valuation and delineation of assets of one of the largest privately held manufacturers of bakery products. • Arbitrator in numerous ICDR and AAA arbitrations involving franchise agreements. •. Arbitrator in AAA consumer arbitration involving functioning of voice-enabled technology.
Training
Speaker, ’Positioning Complex Intellectual Property Disputes for Successful ADR Resolution, Boston Bar Association Webinar, 2021; Speaker, ’Top 10 Things Practitioners Should Know About International Arbitration,’ Boston Bar Association Webinar, 2021; Speaker, ’Use and Limitations of Discovery in Arbitration,’ Chartered Institute of Arbitrators Webinar, 2020; Moderator, ’Data, Privacy, and Cyber Security Issues in International Arbitration,’ Silicon Valley Arbitration and Mediation Center/Orrick Webinar, 2020; Moderator, ’Ensuring Efficiency in Complex Technology Arbitrations,’ Silicon Valley Arbitration and Mediation Center/AAA-ICDR/FoleyHoag Webinar, 2020; AAA-ICDR Arbitrating Domestic & International Life Science Disputes, 2019, Faculty, Philadelphia and Boston programs, 2019; ICC Annual International Conference, 2019; ICDR-AAA/ICC/ICSID 35th Annual Joint Colloquium on International Arbitration, 2018; Arbitrator Performance and Demeanor ~ Meeting Participant Expectations, 2018; Delegate, International Bar Association Annual Conference, Rome 2018; ICC Annual New York Conference, 2018; ICC West Coast Conference, San Francisco, 2018; PLI, International Arbitration Conference, NYC, 2018; AAA-ICDR/ICC/ICSID 34th Annual Joint Colloquium on International Arbitration, 2017; ICC Institute Advanced Level Training: Drafting Enforceable Awards, 2017; ICDR Looking Ahead: Effectively Arbitrating Complex Disputes in the Global Energy Sector, 2017; ABA International Law Section, Spring Meeting 2017; ICDR/The Florida Bar International Law Section, ’The Global Forum on International Law,’ 2017; ABA/CIArb, ’A Day at Lloyd’s Part III,’ 2017; ICDR Miami International Arbitration Conference: The Past, the Present and the Future, 2016; CIArb, Accelerated Route to Fellowship, 2016; International Bar Association Annual Conference, Vienna, 2015; PLI International Arbitration Conference, NYC, 2015; The ICDR Miami International Arbitration Conference, 2015; AAA-ICDR/ICC/ICSID The 31st Annual Joint Colloquium, NYC, 2014; Juris Conference, Damages in International Arbitration: Perspectives on Evidence and Proof, NYC, 2014; ABA Section of Dispute Resolution, 8th Annual Arbitrator Training Institute, Washington, DC, 2014; AAA Arbitration Fundamentals and Best Practices for New AAA Arbitrators, 2014; ABA Section of International Law, Spring Meeting, NYC, 2014; 11th Annual ICDR Miami International Arbitration Conference-International Dispute Resolution in the Americas, 2013; ICDR, CIArb and Los Angeles County Bar Association Joint Conference, International Arbitration in the Pacific Rim, 2013; ABA Section of International Law, Spring Meeting, 2013; ICDR International Symposia in Advanced Case Management Issues, 2012; AAA-ICDR/ICC/ICSID Joint Colloquium, The Frontiers of Arbitration, 2012; ICDR/AAA and Chamber of Commerce of Bogotá, Colombia, Joint International Arbitration Conference, 2012; ABA Section of International Law, Annual Meeting in Miami, 2012; ICDR 10th Annual Miami International Arbitration Conference, 2012; Atlanta International Arbitration Society, The United States and its Place in the International Arbitration System of the 21st Century, 2012; ICDR Annual Miami International Arbitration Conference, 2011; ICDR and Trinity College Dublin School of Law Conference: Alternatives to Litigation in a Civil Society, Dublin, Ireland, 2011; ABA Section of International Law, Annual Meeting, Dublin, Ireland 2011; ICDR/IBA, Four Roundtables in Times Square: Putting the Spotlight on International Arbitration on Broadway, 2011.
Licenses
Admitted to the Bar: Massachusetts (1982), Rhode Island (1995); U.S. District Court: District of Massachusetts, District of Rhode Island; U.S. Court of Appeals: First Circuit; U.S. Supreme Court.
Awards
Best Lawyers in America 2021 ’Lawyer of the Year’ in Litigation- Trusts and Estates in Boston; ’Lawyer of the Year 2009’ - Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly Newspaper; ’Top 100 Massachusetts Super Lawyers’ - 2011 and 2012; regularly listed in The Best Lawyers in America (Arbitration, Commercial Litigation and Litigation - Trusts and Estates); regularly listed as one of ’Boston’s Top Rated Lawyers,’ as published in The Boston Globe; AV Preeminent Peer Rating - Martindale-Hubbell Law Directory, 1984 - Present; Bar Register of Preeminent Lawyers (Commercial Litigation), 1984 -Present; AVVO Rating - ’Superb Attorney’; listed as ’Massachusetts Super Lawyer,’ 2004 - present. Fellow, College of Commercial Arbitrators; Fellow, The Chartered Institute of Arbitrators; Fellow, American Bar Foundation; Fitch Law Partners LLP is listed as a US News & World Report Best Law Firm in America.
Panels
Member of ICDR Panel and AAA Commercial Panel, Large and Complex Cases. AAA-ICDR Life Science Panel and Technology Panel. Tech List, the List of the World’s Leading Technology Arbitrators and Mediators, Silicon Valley Arbitration and Mediation Center. CPR Panel of Distinguished Neutrals. Listed on ICC panel of arbitrators. Appointee, Roster of International Arbitrators.
Associations
Fellow, College of Commercial Arbitrators; Fellow, Chartered Institute of Arbitrators; Steering Committee, Boston Chapter of Chartered Institute of Arbitrators NAB; Co-Chair, Disputes Committee, International Law Section, Boston Bar Association; Founding Director, Boston International Arbitration Council, Inc.; American Bar Association (International Law, Litigation and Dispute Resolution Sections); International Bar Association (Reporter for US on the Rules/Guidelines Subcommittee of the Arbitration Committee, 2015-16); Massachusetts Bar Association (Arbitration Liaison, DR Committee, appointed 2015-2017).
Miscellaneous
Moderator, ’Data, Privacy, and Cyber Security Issues in International Arbitration,’ Silicon Valley Arbitration and Mediation Center and Orrick LLP Webinar, 2020; Moderator, ’Ensuring Efficiency in Complex Technology Arbitrations,’ Silicon Valley Arbitration and Mediation Center, AAA and Foley Hoag LLP Webinar, 2020: Faculty, ’Arbitrating Domestic & International Life Science Disputes,’ AAA-ICDR, Philadelphia and Boston programs, 2019; Moderator, ’Insider Views on International Disputes,’ Boston Bar Association, 2018; Faculty, ’International Issues in Litigation and Arbitration,’ Massachusetts Bar Association, Joint Business Litigation and DR Sections Program, 2017; Moderator, ’The Golden Age of International Arbitration,’ Boston Bar Association CLE Program, 2017; Moderator, ’ESI Discovery in Arbitration,’ Annual Dispute Resolution Symposium of Massachusetts Bar Association, 2017; Moderator, ’Spotlight on Evidence in Commercial Arbitration,’ Massachusetts Bar Association, 2017: Faculty, ’Best Practices in International Arbitration and Recent Developments,’ ICDR Y&I Program, Harvard Law School, 2016; Faculty, New England ADR & the Law (MCLE 2016) ; Moderator, ’Best Practices in Arbitration: The Role of the Arbitrator,’ Dispute Resolution Committee, Massachusetts Bar Association, 2016; Moderator, ’International Arbitration: Hot Topics and Smart Contract Terms,’ New England Legal Foundation, 2015; Panelist, UCI Law School Roundtable on Legal Education, Moderated by Dean Erwin Chemerinsky, 2015; Faculty, ’Arbitration Basics,’ Massachusetts Bar Association, 2015; Guest Lecturer, Harvard Law School, ’The Role of Counsel in Mediation,’ HLS Mediation Course, 2013;