Cliff Bloomfield is a neutral at JAMS and a JAMS employee. After years of practice, and an even longer “apprenticeship” with sitting federal judges and top arbitrators, Mr. Bloomfield practices as an arbitrator and mediator while maintaining his association with JAMS and serving as an Adjunct Professor at Pepperdine University Caruso School of Law teaching arbitration theory and practice.

Mr. Bloomfield started his legal career as a litigator at both large and boutique New York law firms, representing clients in matters ranging from complex commercial disputes to personal injury cases. In 2009, Mr. Bloomfield began a clerkship at the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Eastern District of New York, which was followed by additional federal clerkships including at the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York. Mr. Bloomfield then joined JAMS in 2016 as an associate, working with some of JAMS’ top arbitrators, helping to draft awards and orders and assisting with case management issues, while also serving as a resource on federal and state arbitration law, arbitrator provider rules and best practices. In addition, he was the project attorney for the New York City Stop & Frisk Joint Remedial Process.

In addition to his work as a neutral, he has presented on and written a number of articles on arbitration law, including two chapters in the Practicing Law Institute’s Arbitrating Commercial Disputes in the United States. Thorough, patient and pragmatic, he is known for his ability to cut through extraneous matters and zero in on the truly determinative issues by utilizing tremendous organizational and analytical skills. According to leading JAMS arbitrators, “Cliff is smart, highly analytical and able to parse the most difficult problems to arrive at thoughtful solutions.” “His legal analysis is first rate: nuanced, careful and always on-point. Cliff’s writing is excellent: clear and logical. He understands the arbitration process and is very capable in managing it.”

Mr. Bloomfield is dedicated to ensuring the fair and efficient resolution of disputes. He takes to heart the ethical duty to “ensure that all Parties understand the Arbitration process, the Arbitrator’s role in that process, and the relationship of the Parties to the Arbitrator.” He will ensure the parties are heard, understood, treated respectfully and provided a clear, plain-language explanation of his rulings.

Representative Matters as a Litigator

Employment and Intellectual Property

• Pharmaceutical company alleged to have breached employment contract by former researcher who alleged that the company failed to honor its agreement and stole his intellectual property
• Breach of employment contract litigation brought by hedge fund’s former marketing director
• Client accused of violating federal employment laws such as ERISA and the WARN Act
• Software developer alleged to have breached a covenant not to compete
• Company accused of trademark infringement
• Served, as part of UPENN’s Civil Practice Clinic, as co-lead counsel in an employment discrimination jury trial in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania

Securities and Common Law Fraud

• Defended bank and securities firm in suits by insurance companies that lost substantial capital in an infamous Ponzi scheme
• Securities fraud cases involving underwriters
• Regulatory inquiries

Consumer and Antitrust

• Consumer antitrust class actions brought against credit card association
• Supervised debt collection practices at law firm to ensure compliance with statutes and regulations, including the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act and the Fair Credit Reporting Act

Torts/Personal Injury

• Lead counsel during discovery, during evidentiary hearings and at trial in personal injury cases, including medical malpractice and negligent supervision

Bankruptcy and Other

• Represented secured lender in bankruptcy-related litigation
• Drafted amicus curiae brief arguing that Georgia’s voter ID law was unconstitutional
• Provided pre-publication legal advice to local newspapers as part of a “Libel Hotline”

Representative Arbitration Support

• Assisted with arbitrations in matters including:
  • Complex commercial: Disputes among members of an LLC, and disputes arising from mergers and other corporate transactions, the purchase of distressed assets, a putative art sale, a supply agreement, non-payment of a business loan and with respect to an attorney fee-sharing agreement
  • Labor and employment: Discrimination and wage claims, breach of a non-solicitation agreement and disputes arising under employment agreements, including entitlement to earnout payments and whether an employer was required to advance attorneys’ fees in a pending litigation
  • Consumer: Telephone Consumer Protection Act claims
  • Securities: “Blue Sky” claims arising under state securities laws
  • Intellectual property: Trade secret misappropriation claims under state and federal law
• Drafted awards and orders addressing issues related to arbitrability, discovery, spoliation and sanctions, exclusion of evidence, privilege claims, expert witnesses, protocols for remote arbitration, summary disposition, liability and the award of attorneys’ fees and arbitration costs
• Assisted discovery master with report and recommendation regarding privilege disputes in a multidistrict litigation
• Served as the project attorney for the New York City Stop & Frisk Joint Remedial Process
• Drafted policy memorandum regarding remote arbitration
• Serve as a resource regarding federal and state arbitration law, ethics and the rules of arbitration providers

Relevant Clerkship Work

• Worked on decisions related to:
  • Securities: Class certification, materiality, loss causation and scienter in cases arising under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (including securities fraud related to the publication of false London Interbank Offered Rates and the failure to disclose predatory practices in a dark pool trading platform), as well as application of the Trust Indenture Act to the removal of parent guarantees in suits brought by bondholders against firm
  • Employment: Discrimination and wage claims
  • Personal injury: Claims under the Jones Act and the Death on the High Seas Act
  • Arbitration. Confirming an arbitration award and enjoining or compelling arbitration
  • Bankruptcy: Topics such as the constitutional limits of bankruptcy court authority; mandatory abstention; the automatic stay; customer status under the Securities Investor Protection Act; claim subordination under section 510(b); discharging claims in chapter 11; denial of discharge under section 727; chapter 11 plan confirmation, including feasibility, cramdown and the absolute priority rule; chapter 13 plan confirmation; asset sales under section 363, including the interplay between the Bankruptcy Code and the Tax Injunction Act; enforceability of prepayment consideration clauses; the use of cash collateral when the lender holds an absolute assignment of rents; the impact of post-petition payments on the secured status of a creditor; and the enforceability of a guarantee entered into by a debtor’s principals
• Provided information to pro se parties in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Eastern District of New York’s Office of the Pro Se Law Clerk

Honors, Memberships, and Professional Activities

Memberships and Affiliations

• Past Member, Election Law Committee, New York City Bar Association
• Past Member, International Law and Practice Section, New York Bar Association
• Past Member, Penn Advocates, University of Pennsylvania
• Past Board Member, Equal Justice Foundation, University of Pennsylvania

Bar Admissions

• New York, First Department, 2002
• U.S. District Courts, Southern District of New York and Eastern District of New York, 2005

Selected Publications

• “Arbitrating Commercial Disputes in the United States,” Chapter 3: The FAA Statutory Framework (co-authored with Michael D. Young), Practising Law Institute, 2020
• “Arbitrating Commercial Disputes in the United States,” Chapter 10: Discovery (co-authored with Michael D. Young), Practising Law Institute, 2020
• “Professional Perspective: Remote Hearings and Depositions in Commercial Arbitration” (co-authored with Robert B. Davidson), Bloomberg Law, 2020
• “Resolving Insurance Claim Disputes Before Trial,” Chapter 1: Binding Alternative Dispute Resolution and Insurance Claims (co-authored with Michael D. Young), ABA Book Publishing, 2018
• “Interim and Emergency Measures in International Commercial Arbitration: Time to Say Goodbye to Irreparable Harm and Likelihood of Success on the Merits,” New York Law Journal, 2018
• “Ethical Considerations for Effective Deposition Defense in New York,” Taking and Defending Depositions 2009 289 (co-authored with Partha P. Chattoraj and Alon M. Markowitz), Practising Law Institute, 2009

Background and Education

• Associate, JAMS, 2016–2021
• Law Clerk to Hon. Shira A. Scheindlin, U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York, 2013–2016
• Law Clerk, U.S. Bankruptcy Court, Eastern District of New York, 2009–2013
  • Hon. Carla E. Craig, 2013
  • Hon. Jerome Feller (Ret.), 2012–2013
  • Hon. Elizabeth S. Stong, 2009–2012
• Associate, Markowitz & Chattoraj LLP, 2008–2009
• Associate, Law Office of Marshall E. Bloomfield, 2007–2008
• Associate; Paul, Weis, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP; 2004–2007
• Associate, Clifford Chance LLP, 2001–2004
• J.D., University of Pennsylvania Law School, 2001
• B.A., cum laude, Cornell University, 1997