Daniel H. Margolis

Daniel Margolis is an attorney based in Washington, DC, where he now practices exclusively in the field of alternative dispute resolution, serving as an arbitrator and a mediator in commercial disputes. He is a graduate of the Harvard Law School and the Johns Hopkins University. He started his career as a trial attorney in the Antitrust Division of the US Department of Justice, and after entering into private practice he served as a trial lawyer and legal advisor for fifty years, specializing in antitrust, business and administrative law. He was a partner for many years in the firm of Bergson, Borkland, Margolis & Adler, and subsequently, for thirteen years, as a partner in the firm of Patton Boggs LLP.

Legal Experience:

 During his years in private practices as an attorney, his clients included corporations and trade associations in various industries including: aluminum; auto and auto parts manufacturing; banking; chemical manufacturing; credit cards; grocery supermarket chains; motion picture production distribution and exhibition; natural gas pipelines; ocean shipping; oil tanker operations; paper and plastic manufacturing and packaging; pharmaceuticals; television and radio network broadcasting.

ADR Experience:

Mr. Margolis has more than twenty years experience in dispute resolution as a mediator and as an arbitrator. He serves on the roster of arbitrators and mediators of the American Arbitration Association, including its panel for large complex cases and its Special Federal Communications Commission Arbitration Panel; the International Institute for Conflict Prevention & Resolution, including its US-China Business Mediation Panel; and as an arbitrator for the FINRA Dispute Resolution program. He is frequently appointed as a mediator by the Dispute Resolution Programs of the US Courts for the District of Columbia, both in cases awaiting trial in the US District Court and in cases on appeal to the US Court of Appeals; and by the Multi-Door Dispute Resolution Division of the Superior Court of the District of Columbia.
International ADR Experience: Mr.Margolis has served as a mediator in cross-border disputes involving commercial contracts between private companies and also between private companies and foreign state-owned enterprises. He is a Senior Advisor and occasional lecturer on competition law and alternative dispute resolution for the International Law Institute in Washington, DC and abroad.

Mediation is a flexible process that facilitates negotiation and resolution of disputes. Unlike litigation, it is not a process for deciding the merits of a dispute and imposing a resolution on the parties. In mediation, the mediator serves as a neutral third party whose role is to assist the parties in reaching a mutually acceptable solution.

Mediation permits the parties to retain complete control over the resolution of their dispute. It allows them to maintain privacy and confidentiality, to achieve a result that may be beyond the scope of normal judicial resolution, and one that may preserve relationships.

As a mediator, I work to manage the process and assist the parties in their negotiations. I often meet with the parties and/or their counsel in private caucuses prior to the commencement of the first joint session. I strive to earn the trust and respect of the parties; to bring freshness and flexibility into the negotiations; and to facilitate difficult communications. To maximize my effectiveness, I work with the parties in private caucus encouraging them to educate me, candidly and confidentially, as to their positions on the merits of the dispute , of their perceptions as to litigation risk, and of their respective goals and thoughts as to an acceptable outcome. I do not disclose confidential information that I learn from a party in private caucus unless specifically authorized to do so. I also avoid offering my views as to the likely outcome of the dispute if it were to be litigated or arbitrated, unless requested to do so. I see my role primarily as a facilitator helping the parties achieve an acceptable and sometimes creative solution, one that has recognized value to all concerned.