James R. Ferguson


James R. Ferguson

James R. Ferguson serves as a neutral in U.S. and international arbitrations involving complex commercial contracts, often with Intellectual Property or Information Technology issues. A partner with Mayer Brown LLP, Jim is registered neutral with the AAA, CPR, the ICDR and the ICC. He has served as both Chair and Wing Arbitrator in cases involving licensing, joint venture, co-development, royalty, patent, trade secret, data management, software and many other contract disputes. These cases span a wide range of technologies, including pharmaceutical, medical device, biotechnology and information technology.

For more than 12 years, Jim has been recognized in Chambers USA, Law 500, Patent 250 and Patent 1000, among many other publications. He has published and spoken widely on arbitration issues, including multiple presentations on arbitrating license disputes to the International Bar Association, the American Bar Association and the World Intellectual Property Organization. He teaches courses on both innovation and U.S. and international arbitration at the Northwestern University Pritzker School of Law (2004-present), the Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine (2004-present), and the University of Chicago Law School (2014-2020).