JAMES GAITIS has served as an arbitrator in complex international and domestic energy and commercial arbitrations since 1990. He is widely considered to be an expert in the field. In 2017, he was awarded the title of Distinguished Fellow of the College of Commercial Arbitrators (the CCA), the first such award to be made by the CCA, an elite, invitation-only organization of many of the most prominent arbitrators located in North America and the world.
In 2025, the editors of the Fifth Edition of the CCA Guide to Best Practices in Commercial Arbitration further honored James Gaitis for his work in advancing best practice guidance for arbitrators serving in international and commercial arbitrations:
“DEDICATION–The editors of this Fifth edition of the College of Commercial Arbitrators Guide to Best Practices in Commercial Arbitration acknowledge the extraordinary role that Jim Gaitis played in the first four editions. An experienced arbitrator, Jim was an editor of the first edition and the editor in chief of the second, third, and fourth editions. His efforts played a major role in establishing the Guide as the respected, oft-cited authority on best practices in arbitration that it is today.”
Over the years, James Gaitis has garnerd a broad variety of arbitrator credentials, including appointments as a Fellow and Chartered Arbitrator of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators (UK), a Charter Member and Distinguished Neutral of the National Academy of Distinguished Neutrals, a Fellow of the College of Commercial Arbitrators, and the Director of the International Dispute Resolution Programme at the Centre for Energy, Petroleum & Mineral Law and Policy at the University of Dundee, Scotland, where he also was the Principal Research and Teaching Fellow.
James Gaitis remains available on a limited, case-by-case basis to serve as an arbitrator, and to provide confidential arbitration case analyses, in complex energy and commercial arbitrations.
He may be contacted at: Gaitis.ADR@gmail.com