City: Boston

Philip O’Neill’s international practice ranges from general corporate work to dispute resolution. Primarily, Philip O’Neill has been engaged in litigation/arbitration as a trial attorney and arbitrator for over 30 years, with approximately equal experience in international and domestic arbitration and litigation involving complex business disputes (70%). He has acted as outside general counsel to a number of American and foreign clients in connection with projects in the U.S. and around the world, including joint ventures and private equity investments. Phil’s international general counsel practice has involved matters/issues in as many as 45-50 countries per year. He has also represented both U.S. and foreign companies in cross-border and domestic arbitration as well as litigation matters in the U.S. and abroad for over 30 years. His experience as advocate or arbitrator includes international commercial disputes involving energy supply, joint ventures, distribution, health care, life sciences, telecom, valuation and transfer pricing, as well as patent royalty and other intellectual property, technology transfer and licensing matters.

Notable Experience

Guidance/Transactional:

• Phil provided post 9/11 guidance to the Chairman of a large Arab bank on anti-terrorist finance issues.
• He served as International Special Counsel to a NYSE listed company on joint ventures.
• He acted as International General Counsel on joint ventures and related industrial projects for Middle Eastern strategic financial partners and American technology partners.
• He served as International General Counsel to a Middle Eastern-financed offshore collective investment through special purpose corporations for U.S., European, North African and Middle Eastern investments.

Phil O’Neill is a very experienced international arbitrator and is on panels or listed by arbitral institutions globally, including the American Arbitration Association, International Chamber of Commerce, WIPO, the London Court of International Arbitration, CIETAC and the Stockholm, Milan, Dubai, Kuala Lumpur and Hong KongArbitrationCenters. Phil is a chartered arbitrator and a fellow in both the College of Commercial Arbitrators and in England’s Chartered Institute of Arbitrators. He was previously on the American Panel of Arbitrators to resolve trade disputes under the North American Free Trade Agreement. Phil has been listed repeatedly in the International Arbitration section of The Best Lawyers in America.

• Phil authored a panel decision relating to a ten-figure patent/licensing royalty claim between an Asian pharmaceutical and an American biotech company.
• He was an advocate in a ten-figure energy long-term supply contract breach claim between American and African companies.
• He served as a panel chair in a nine-figure patent royalty claim between an American company and an Asian company in the telecom industry.
• Phil was a member of the panel for a nine-figure patent license dispute between American and Canadian companies over European and Latin American technology transfer.

Training

• College of Commercial Arbitrators, Annual Meeting, 2008, 2009
• AAA Dealing With Delay Tactics in Arbitration, 2006
• AAA International Arbitration Symposium, 2005
• AAA Neutrals Conference, 2005
• AAA Dealing with Delay Tactics in arbitration (ACE004), 2005

In 2007 Phil O’Neill taught international business transactions at the Fletcher School of Law & Diplomacy. Phil served as Nomura lecturer in law at Harvard Law School on International Arbitration in 2005. His professorial career began at Boston College Law School in 1988, where he initially taught a seminar on “National Security Law” and he continues to teach an “International Arbitration” course. He also teaches at Boston University School of Law, where he currently conducts an LLM seminar on “International Arbitration”, and previously taught for ten years a “National Security Law” seminar, and previously a L.L.M. level course entitled “American Foreign Policy and International Banking”. Phil previously guest-lectured at the Harvard Law School on “International Arbitration” in the mid to late 1990s as well as 2006, and before that at Harvard Business School on venture capital.

Hamilton College, B.A., 1973
Boston College, J.D., 1977