The Metes and Bounds of Arbitral Jurisdiction

Conna A. Weiner, Esq. brings to her U.S. and international mediation and arbitration practice a unique combination of litigation, transactional and in-house experience after roles with internationally known outside counsel and multinational life sciences and health care companies. She has extensive experience mediating and arbitrating complex general commercial and employment, life sciences and health care matters in the U.S. and internationally and has served as a sole arbitrator, neutral party-appointed arbitrator on three member panels and as the chair of arbitration tribunals.

Although she has decades of experience in general commercial and employment matters representing both plaintiffs and defendants and is noted for her ability to help parties assess their positions before and after litigations or arbitrations are filed, Ms. Weiner’s extensive transactional and deal work over the years help her rapidly appreciate the core issues involved in business arbitrations and mediations and creatively assist parties in structuring an appropriate arbitration process or working out negotiated business solutions that help preserve relationships. Her inside counsel experience helps her understand and communicate with clients and maintain an objective perspective in connection with a wide variety of matters.

Ms. Weiner has special expertise in the full range of unique, complex legal issues and contractual arrangements prevalent in life sciences (such as intellectual property, licensing and acquisitions, supply agreements and the research, development and commercialization of pharmaceuticals, medical devices and diagnostics), health care (both payors and providers) and other technology arenas. She is a Fellow in the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators and holds a number of leadership positions in legal and dispute resolution organizations.

Ms. Weiner began her career as a general commercial litigator at Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison. She then moved on to leadership roles in-house with multinational firms such as Novartis, where, in addition to all of the work required of an in-house corporate generalist, she gained hands-on experience in the full range of unique legal issues facing life sciences and healthcare companies, including every phase of discovery, research, development and commercialization. She has worked for branded and generic, human and animal pharmaceutical, vaccine and device manufacturers and has collaborated extensively with their business partners, including providers (such as hospitals, physicians, academic medical centers and universities), payors (such as health plans/insurers and managed care entities), contract manufacturers and suppliers, software companies, clinical research organizations and state and federal governmental entities.

Ms. Weiner has applied her years of substantive, hands-on experience to help parties in connection with a wide range of ADR matters.

Mitch is a trial lawyer with over 30 years of experience in handling business and professional disputes in the courts and through arbitration and mediation.

He provides his clients with services ranging from skilled representation in court to practical advice on how to comply with the law, improve business practices, or resolve a dispute quickly at a reasonable cost.

For ten years, Mitch served as the Managing Partner of Novack and Macey and the Editor of Litigation Review, a legal periodical published by the firm. Mitch is the firm’s representative to the IAG International, an international association of attorneys and accountants. He recently was elected to a three-year-term on the IAG Management Committee, its board of directors, and he serves as the organization's Secretary.

Mitch is an Adjunct Professor at DePaul University College of Law where he teaches Commercial Arbitration. He is a former Director of the Chicago Chapter of the Federal Bar Association and a member of the Civil Practice Committee (past Chair) of the Chicago Bar Association. He is a member of the Litigation Section of the American Bar Association where he serves as Co-Chair of the ADR Committee and Editor of its Website which was chosen as the ABA's Best Website of 2016. Mitch is a member of the American Bar Foundation.

Mitch has been selected annually by his peers as an Illinois Super Lawyer for more than 10 years. He has been awarded Martindale-Hubbell’s AV? Preeminent Peer Review Rating, its highest rating for ethical standards and legal ability. Mitch also has been chosen by his peers as a Leading Lawyer in Commercial Litigation each year since 2004.

Mitch serves as a Director and Chair of the Development Committee of the Resolution Systems Institute (RSI), an organization dedicated to enhancing ADR systems in the courts. He also is a Director of the College of Commercial Arbitrators. He was appointed to the Illinois Chapter of the National Academy of Distinguished Neutrals.

The Illinois Institute of Continuing Legal Education (IICLE) often looks to Mitch for his expertise in civil practice and recently recognized him for his exceptional volunteer service as an author of IICLE’s civil practice materials.