Conway & Partners - advocaten and attorneys at law

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Shawn Conway has practiced 25 years in the Netherlands following five years in the United States. He is admitted to the Bar in the United States (District of Columbia and Illinois) as well as the Netherlands (Rotterdam). After a clerkship with a US Federal Court of Appeals judge, he was an associate with Steptoe & Johnson, before joining Trenité Van Doorne (now Simmons & Simmons) in Rotterdam where he was a partner for 11 years. Shawn is an international arbitrator and mediator.

Shawn’s practice encompasses (international) arbitration, litigation, and alternative dispute resolution as well as (international) commercial transactions (including joint ventures, construction projects, trade, distribution, licensing and agency). He represents and advises manufacturers, construction project owners, engineering firms, contractors, consultants and suppliers in (among others) the petrochemical, telecom, energy, heavy industry, manufacturing, consumer and industrial electronics and software industries.

Due to his dual qualifications under U.S. and Dutch law, Shawn is regularly engaged by large multinational and international companies with respect to their international transactions and disputes. His practice experience over the past 30 years has involved matters in all parts of the world. He publishes regularly in professional journals and has been and is a guest lecturer at a number of law schools.

Illustrative Cases

Acting on behalf of a fashion industry manufacturer as counsel in an arbitration between the manufacturer-licensee and the fashion industry licensor under the rules of the NAI. These matters also involved more than ten related court proceedings arising out of the opponent's unsuccessful attacks against a final arbitral award, including Dutch Supreme Court decisions and the European Court of Justice landmark decision concerning the relationship between EU competition law and international commercial arbitration, Eco Swiss China Time Ltd. v. Benetton International N.V., ECJ case 126 / 97 (1 June, 1999)

Acting as counsel on behalf of a European construction company in regard to simultaneous, multiple arbitrations arising out of a consortium agreement for an industrial project in South-East Asia. The arbitrations were held under the rules of the ICC and the seat of arbitration was Geneva, Switzerland. The Swiss Federal Law of Obligations was the law that was applicable in the various actions.

Appointed as chairman of the tribunal for an arbitration concerning a dispute between a Belgian software developer and a Dutch customer company. The law that was applicable was that of the Netherlands and the language of the arbitration was Dutch. The arbitration was held under the rules of the NAI.

Professional Affiliations:

• Member of the panel of international arbitrators for the International Centre for Dispute Resolution (AAA)
• Member of the Netherlands Arbitration Institute panel of arbitrators
• Board Member, International Mediation Institute
• Board Member and Secretary, American Chamber of Commerce of The Netherlands (1998-2008)
• Vice - Chair, Chartered Institute of Arbitrators - European Branch
• Board Member, Netherlands Mediation Institute (1995-2009)
• Advisory Counsel, Erasmus Universiteit van Rotterdam, International LL.M. Program

Education:

• Erasmus University Rotterdam, Master in Dutch law (1997)
• University of Notre Dame, USA, Juris Doctor (magna cum laude) (1982)
• University of Northern Illinois, Bachelor of Arts (summa cum laude) (1979)
• Instituto San Francisco, Honduras, Bachiller en Ciencias y Letras (1975)

Languages:

• English (Native Speaker)
• Dutch (Fluent)
• Spanish (Fluent)

Publications:

• Herziening van het 1976 UNCITRAL Arbitragereglement / S.C. Conway (co-author), Tijdschrift voor Arbitrage 2011, nr. 1. 
• Het NMI Mediation Reglement 2008: Tekst en Toelichting/ S.C. Conway, ISBN 978 90 12 38121 5, 124 pages, Sdu Publishers, The Hague (2008)
• Document Disclosure in International Construction Arbitration / S.C. Conway, Construction Law Journal, Vol. 23 p 105 (2007)
• Contract Interpretation in the USA: a Practical Overview / S.C. Conway, Nederlands Tijdschrift voor Handelsrecht (2005)
• Document Discovery in International Arbitration – Getting the Documents You Need / S.C. Conway, The Transnational Lawyer, Vol. 18, page 371, 2005
• The Proposed EU Directive on certain aspects of Mediation in civil and commercial matters. / S.C. Conway –In Tijdschrift voor Mediation, 2005
• Court-Annexed Mediation Launched Nationwide / S.C. Conway– In IBA Mediation Newsletter Vol. 1, no. 3, December 2005, p. 33
• The UNCITRAL Model Law on International Conciliation / S.C. Conway – In: Tijdschrift voor Mediation 4, 2004 p.96
• Uniform Mediation Act (U.S.A.) / S.C. Conway – In: Tijdschrift voor Mediation 1, 2003 p. 6
• Samenvoeging van Arbitrages / S.C. Conway – In: Onderneming & Financiering, 2002 p. 88
• Geschillen Oplossen Buiten de Rechtbank / S.C. Conway - In: Energiebeurs Bulletin (2000)
• Compulsory Disclosure of Evidence in the United States and The Netherlands / S.C. Conway - In: Comparative Law Yearbook of International Business (1998)
• Telephonic Mediation: a solution of last resort? / S.C. Conway - In: Tijdschrift voor Mediation 4, 1997 p. 72
• Professionaliteit in Mediation: het NMI-Mediation-Reglement en de NMI-Gedragsregels / S.C. Conway - In: Tijdschrift voor Mediation 1, 1997
• Litigation/ADR Methods / S.C. Conway (co-author of chapter on The Netherlands) - In: Comparative Law Yearbook of International Business (1994)
• Update on Foreign Investment Regulations in the U.S. / S.C. Conway - In: International Company and Commercial Law Review 4, 1990 p. 92
• Getuigenbewijs in Amerikaanse Procedures / S.C. Conway - In: Advocatenblad 8, 1989 p. 218

Speeches and Presentations:

• Chartered Institute of Arbitrators, Implementation of the EU Mediation Directive, Paris (2011)
• IIR Conferences, Successful Contract Management, Rotterdam (2010)
• Corporate In-house Counsel Dispute Resolution Strategies Conference, Mock Mediation Workshop, Amsterdam (2010)
• Chartered Institute of Arbitration, Modern Dispute Resolution in the Netherlands, The Hague (2008)
• Atradius DSB Seminar, Amsterdam: International Arbitrage (2007)
• EU Parliament, Expert Testimony on EU Mediation Directive before Committee on Legal Affairs (2007)
• Nordic Alternative Investment Forum, Stockholm: Investor Protection in the Netherlands (2006)
• Heidelberg Center for International Litigation/ADR: Interfaces between Mediation and Arbitration (2004)
• IIR Conference, Amsterdam Schiphol: Incentive Contracts for Construction Projects (2001)
• NCM Course, Amsterdam: The New FIDIC Contracts (2001)
• Energy Contracting 2000, The Hague: Dispute Avoidance & Resolution (2000)
• Kamer van Koophandel Seminar, Rotterdam: Practical application of Mediation (1999)
• CILS Seminar, Colorado, U.S.A.: Competition Law in European Arbitration (1999)
• Lex Mundi Annual Meeting, Vancouver: Discovery in International Arbitrations (1998)
• RTL TV 5, De kwestie: V.S. Jury System (1997)
• Mediation Symposium, Amsterdam: Mediation and A.D.R. (1997)
• IIMOR Symposium, The Hague: Cultural aspects in International Negotiations (1997)
• FENEDEX Studiedag, The Hague: American Product Liability (1996)
• Chartered Institute of Arbitrators, London: Challenges to International Arbitration Awards (1996)
• TRETT Seminar, Rotterdam: Litigation/ADR in International Contracts (1995)
• EUROFORUM Cours, Gelderop: Drafting International Construction Contracts (1991)
• Pals Conference, Helsinki: Soviet Joint Ventures (1991)