Member Profile: James M. Gaitis

	James M. Gaitis Arbitrator/ADR Neutral 190 Tamarack Creek Rd Whitefish, MT 59937 Tel: (406) 863-2734 Fax: Website: www.jamesgaitis.vpweb.com	View Printable Resume GoogleMaps for this Location

ADR Services Include:

Arbitration; Early Neutral Evaluation

Agricultural Anti-Trust Appellate Class Actions Commercial/Business Construction Contract Disputes Energy Sector (Oil, Gas)

Engineering Environmental Franchise Industrial Intellectual Property International Mergers & Acquisitions Mining

Partnerships Real Estate Shareholder Disputes Title Disputes Torts Trusts / Estates Utilities

BIOGRAPHICAL:

James Gaitis is the Editor-in-Chief of the second edition of The College of Commercial Arbitrators Guide to Best Practices in Commercial Arbitration (J. Gaitis, C. von Kann, R. Wachsmuth eds 2010) and the former Director of the LL.M in International Dispute Resolution Programme at the Centre for Energy, Petroleum & Mineral Law and Policy, Post-Graduate School of Management & Policy, University of Dundee, and Principal Teaching and Research Fellow. Over the course of his 33-year legal career he has acted as in-house counsel, outside trial and transactional counsel, special counsel, expert witness, and arbitrator/ADR Neutral in a broad variety of complex matters pertaining to the oil & gas industry and energy industry, as well as to general commercial contracts and real estate transactions.

In addition to serving as trial and appellate counsel in over 200 district court cases and related appeals, he has served as an arbitrator in over 100 domestic and international arbitrations, including over two dozen arbitrations involving claims in excess of $10 Million (US) and several involving claims in excess of $100 Million (US) and relating to: a broad variety of oil & gas disputes involving the upstream, midstream, and downstream sectors of the oil and gas industry; commercial contracts; sales of goods, UCC Article 2; fiduciary duties & agency law; trusts; franchise agreements; fraud, tortious breach of contract; patents; service agreements; real estate, restrictive covenants, leasing, homeowners associations; construction claims (defects, delays, lack of supervision); antitrust, restraint of trade; noncompete agreements; requirements contracts; acquisitions, sales of assets, maufacturing and domain names. His experience as oil & gas attorney and arbitrator spans substantial involvement in virtually every aspect of the oil & gas industry, including experience in transactions and disputes regarding onshore and offshore exploration, drilling, and production; joint operating agreements; unitization agreements; gas sales contracts; natural gas supply contracts; joint ventures; service agreements and companies; gas gathering; measurement; gas processing; oil production and measurement; oil & gas technology and intellectual property; joint ventures and partnerships, and gas and liquids storage, sales, and distribution.

In the course of his career he has been involved in cases and arbitrations involving many producing oil and gas regions, including but not limited to the Hugoton Basin (Kansas), the Powder River Basin (Wyoming and Montana), Offshore Gulf of Mexico, the Santos Basin (Brazil), the Anadarko Basin (Oklahoma & Texas Panhandle), the San Juan Basin (New Mexico & Colorado), the Permian Basin (West Texas & New Mexico), the Barnett Shale (Texas), the Williston Basin (Montana & North Dakota), the Uinta Basin (Utah), Lake Washington (Louisiana), and the Arkoma Basin (Oklahoma).

He is the author of a variety of lengthy law review articles on the topic of arbitration, some of which have been repeatedly cited to the United States Supreme Court and lower state and federal courts. A frequent speaker and lecturer, Mr. Gaitis is widely considered to be an authority on arbitration practice and vacatur law. His most recent article--on the topic of the enforceability of choice of law provisions in commercial arbitration--will appear in the summer of 2011 in the American Review of International Arbitration, published by the Parker School of Foreign and Comparative Law, Columbia Law School.

EDUCATION:

• University of Notre Dame BA 1976 (with honors)
• University of Iowa College of Law JD 1978 (Note & Comment Editor, Iowa Law Review)

Memberships & Affiliations

• Fellow and Chartered Arbitrator, Chartered Institute of Arbitrators (UK) (2003-2009)
• Fellow, College of Commercial Arbitrators
• Charter Member, National Academy of Distinguished Neutrals
• CPR International Institute for Conflict Prevention and Resolution Energy, Oil and Gas Panel
• CPR International Institute for Conflict Prevention and Resolution Regional Panel (Montana)
• American Arbitration Association Large, Complex Case Panel
• American Arbitration Association National Energy Panel
• American Arbitration Association Real Estate Panel
• American Arbitration Association National Roster of Neutrals
• CPR Energy/Oil & Gas Committee
• State Bar of Texas
• State Bar of Montana (Member, Dispute Resolution Committee--1993-96 (Vice Chair 1995-96));
• Board of Editors, The Montana Lawyer 1993-96 (Editor, Annual Developments in the Law feature (1994-96)
• Oklahoma Bar Association (1980-2009)
• Global Faculty Member & Honorary Lecturer, Centre for Energy, Petroleum & Mineral Law & Policy, University of Dundee, Scotland (2007-2011)
• Chartered Institute of Arbitrators (2003-2009)

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