Lawrence S. Schaner is a litigator, Co-Chair of the International Arbitration Practice, and Chair of the Firm’s International Committee. He has broad experience in the areas of complex commercial litigation and arbitration.  Consistently ranked as one of the leading arbitration lawyers in the United States, Mr. Schaner has been termed “tremendously knowledgeable” and “one of Chicago’s finest international arbitration experts” by Chambers USA (2011).

Mr. Schaner represents parties in all aspects of international and domestic arbitration and in matters relating to arbitration, such as the enforcement of arbitration agreements and awards.  He regularly serves as an arbitrator, including recent appointments in ICC, ICDR and AAA cases.  He is an adjunct professor of law at Northwestern University School of Law, where he teaches international arbitration.  He counsels clients on dispute resolution alternatives and on matters such as drafting dispute resolution provisions.  In addition, Mr. Schaner has extensive experience in commercial litigation and cross-border litigation matters.  He has represented clients in courts throughout the United States in a wide range of business disputes.  He has substantial experience using 28 U.S.C. § 1782 to obtain discovery in the United States for foreign legal proceedings.

Active in many professional organizations, Mr. Schaner is vice-chair of the IBA Arbitration Committee, a member of the ICC Commission on Arbitration, a Councilor of the North American Users’ Council of the LCIA, a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators, Midwest Chair of the USCIB Arbitration Committee and a member of the CPR Arbitration Committee.  He publishes and speaks regularly on arbitration and cross-border litigation topics.  He is the editor of Dispute Resolution International, the journal of the Dispute Resolution Section of the IBA, and of the IBA Arbitration Guide, an introduction to the law and practice of arbitration in more than 40 countries. 

Mr. Schaner serves on the panels of arbitrators of the American Arbitration Association/ International Centre for Dispute Resolution, CPR International Institute for Conflict Prevention & Resolution, Hong Kong International Arbitra­tion Centre, Kuala Lumpur Regional Centre for Arbitration, Arbitration Association of Brunei Darussalam, and Chicago Interna­tional Dispute Resolution Association.