Overview
Steve joined Dovel & Luner to spearhead the firm’s international arbitration practice, bringing with him decades of international arbitration experience.
Steve has arbitrated international disputes and has served as an arbitrator on international tribunals for over forty years. Steve has counseled clients such as Citibank, Starrett, Totale, Gulf+Western, Boise Cascade, Avis, PanAm, Raytheon, P+O Steamship & Navigation, and the government for the Kingdom of Spain.
Steve’s experience includes serving as counsel for parties and as arbitrator under the auspices of the major international and domestic arbitral organizations, including the International Chamber of Commerce International Court of Arbitration and the American Arbitration Association International Center for Dispute Resolution (ICDR), of which he was a co-founder. Steve served as a member of the ICDR Panels of International Arbitrators and Commercial Arbitrators, the U.S. Panel of International Institute for Conflict Prevention, the Panel of World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) for Domain Name Disputes, and the Panel of National Arbitration Forum. Steve was the American Bar Association Representative to the United Nations Office at Geneva and Vienna and chaired the 1998 fiftieth anniversary of the UN Declaration of Human Rights at UN Headquarters. He was a member of the United States delegation in Rome at the signing of the Treaty on the International Criminal Court. Steve also chaired the American Bar Association’s International Arbitration Committee and the Committee on International Law of the New York City Bar Association.
Education
- New York University School of Law, (LL.B., 1964)
- Cornell University, (B.S., 1961)
Arbitral Panels and Service
- International Chamber of Commerce Court of International Arbitration
- Panels of International Arbitrators and Commercial Arbitrators, American Arbitration Association
- U.S. Panel of International Institute for Conflict Prevention and Resolution
- Panel of World Intellectual Property Organization for Domain Name Disputes
- Panel of National Arbitration Forum
Public Service Activity
- American Bar Association Representative to United Nations Office at Geneva (NGO with Consultative Status) (2000-2009)
- UN Watch, Geneva: Co-Founding Member of Assembly, General Counsel and Director (1993-1998)
- Chair, Planning Committee ABA UN Conference in Commemoration of Fiftieth Anniversary of Declaration of Universal Rights of Man (March 12-13, 1998)
- Member, U.S. Delegation, International Criminal Court, Rome Meeting (1998)
- U.S. Delegate: L’Enterprise Algierienne et Arbitrage Commercial, International Conference (Algerian Business and Commercial Arbitration), Algiers (November 1989)
- Chair, American Bar Association International Arbitration Committee (1993-1998)
- Member, ABA Standing Committee on World Order Under Law (1994-1998)
- Member, Corporate Counsel and International Law Committees of American Arbitration Association
- Chair, Committee on International Law (1986-1989)
- Chair, Committee on Civil Court (1974-1977)
- Member, City Bar Association Committee on Foreign Sovereign Immunity (1987-1988)
- Member, Council on Foreign Affairs (1986-1990)
- Committee on Foreign and Comparative Law (1985-1986)
- Committee on Arbitration and Alternate Dispute Resolution (1989-1992)
- Member, American Law Institute (elected 1995)
- Fellow, American Bar Foundation (elected 1997)
Publications and conferences
- “The Problem of the ‘Politically Correct’ Arbitrator” (Author, ADR Currents, June-August 2000)
- “How to Conduct an International Arbitration” (Chairman, American Bar Association, International Law Section, April 11, 1997)
- “Transnational Evidence Gathering” (Speaker, American Bar Association, International Law Section, Spring Meeting 1996)
- “Parallel Proceedings in International Arbitration and Litigation” (Chairman, American Bar Association, International Law Section, Spring Meeting 1995)
- “Enforcing Foreign Arbitral Awards” (Author, International Arbitration Conference, Cairo, Egypt, March 1995)
- “Litigating and Arbitrating International Commercial Disputes” (Panelist, American Conference Institute, May 20, 1993)
- “Colloquium of Arbitrators” (Panelist, Institute of International Business Law and Practice, May 4, 1993)
- “Conduct of an ICSID Arbitration” (Speaker, American Bar Association, International Law Section, Spring Meeting 1993)
- “Dispute Resolution in Latin America” (Speaker, Florida Bar Association, International Law Section Meeting, March 18, 1993)
- “The Drafting of Effective Choice of Law Clauses” (Author, Journal of International Arbitration, September 1991 Edition)
- “Streamlining the Administration of a Major Arbitration” (Speaker, American Arbitration Association, International Chamber of Commerce & World Bank, October 6, 1989)
- “International Mutual Assistance and Judicial Co-operation” (Speaker, International Law Weekend 1987, November 7, 1987)
- “International Commercial Arbitration in the 1980’s” (Contributor, World Arbitration Institute & Transnational Publishers, The Arbitration Hearing, 1986)
- “International Commercial Arbitration in the 1980’s” (Author, Business Lawyer. Vol. 38, No. 4, August 1983)
- “The Operational GC: Don’t be Arbitrary About Arbitration” (Author, ACC Docket, November 8, 2022)

Personal Facts
- Steve skied all three valleys from Courchevel through Meribel to Val Thorens.
- Steve is a member of the Confrérie des Chevalier du Taste-vin.
- Steve practiced law (limited to U.S. law) in Switzerland for more than a decade.
- Steve met and married his late wife, Susan in college and they raised their three children in Greenwich, Connecticut.
Joining Dovel & Luner
I was Counsel at Dentons when I received a book from Dovel & Luner describing the firm’s unique practice and success. I immediately knew that, with my addition, the firm could service an underserved market by offering success-based fee structures for international arbitrations. The more that I learned about the firm, the more I appreciated how effectively their skill set would translate to persuading international tribunals.