Episode 23: Ben Davis, Emeritus Professor of Law at the University of Toledo Law School

In this episode of the ICODR podcast Ian speaks with Ben Davis, Emeritus Professor of Law at the University of Toledo Law School.

Professor Benjamin Davis joined the College of Law faculty in 2003 and retired on Jan. 31, 2021. He is a graduate of Harvard College (B.A.), Harvard Law School (J.D), and Harvard Business School (M.B.A.) where he was articles editor of the Harvard International Law Journal. Professor Davis taught in the areas of contracts, commercial law, alternative dispute resolution, arbitration, public international law, international business transactions, and 3L extended bar preparation. For his final project at the college, he hosted a dynamic virtual conversation with more than 40 experts around the world.

Prior to joining the faculty, Professor Davis was an associate professor at Texas Wesleyan University School of Law (now Texas A&M University School of Law). Between 1983 and 1986, he worked in Paris, France as a development consultant in West Africa, and as a strategic business consultant with Mars & Co in Europe. In 1986, he became the American legal counsel at the International Court of Arbitration of the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) where he supervised directly or indirectly over 1,000 international commercial arbitration and mediation cases, made filings before courts around the world on behalf of the ICC, assisted with the drafting of arbitration laws in countries such as India and Sri Lanka, and led conferences in Eastern and Western Europe, North America, and Asia. In 1996, he was promoted to director, conference programmes and manager of the Institute of World Business Law, where he organized training sessions on international contracts, dispute resolution, project finance, and electronic commerce.

Professor Davis is the creator of fast-track international commercial arbitration and the inventor of the International Competitions for Online Dispute Resolution by which students from around the world competed in online negotiation, mediation, arbitration and litigation (2000-05). He served as former chair of the American Bar Association Section of Dispute Resolution. He is a former board member of the Society of American Law Teachers and a former member of the ABA Council for Racial and Ethnic Diversity in the Educational Pipeline (Pipeline Council) and the ABA Standing Committee on Law and National Security. He is also a former member and subcommittee chair for the Arbitration Competition for the ABA-Law Student Division Competitions Committee, which developed the ABA arbitration moot court.

Professor Davis led the successful effort in the American Society of International Law to pass only the 8th resolution in its history entitled the ASIL Centennial Resolution on Laws of War and Detainee Treatment. He submitted an amicus curiae in support of respondents on Nov. 26, 2019 in the U.S. Supreme Court Case GE Energy Power Conversion France SAS v. Outokumpu Stainless USA LLC. In 2018, he received the Champion of Change Award of Arbitral Women, the international NGO of women ADR practitioners.

Professor Davis has given numerous presentations and speeches around the world. He has published dozens of articles on topics related to international and domestic arbitration, online and offline dispute resolution, and international law. He is also a contributing editor at Jurist.