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Mark C. Morril is an independent arbitrator and mediator based in New York City who focuses on complex commercial disputes. He is an IMI certified mediator, a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators and is on the roster of leading alternative dispute organizations in the United States and other countries. Previously, he served for ten years (1989-1998) as General Counsel of Simon & Schuster, then the largest English language publisher in the world, and for thirteen years (1999-2012) as Deputy General Counsel of the global media company Viacom. Viacom's businesses comprise Paramount Pictures and 170 cable TV channels and multiplatform properties (including MTV, VH1, Nickelodeon, COMEDY CENTRAL and BET) and formerly included CBS Broadcasting, CBS Radio, Viacom Outdoor, Showtime, Simon & Schuster and the discontinued industrial operations of Westinghouse, Gulf+Western and Charter Oil. Further details at morrilADR.com
Mr. Morril has been substantially engaged in commercial mediation and arbitration for more than 25 years, initially as counsel in private practice, later as in-house counsel highly involved in major commercial mediation and arbitration matters and, since September 2012, as a full-time neutral. He has been appointed in more than 100 mediations and more than 30 arbitrations. In each area, many of the matters are large, complex and international. The mediations and arbitrations have been conducted under the auspices of major administering institutions, court-annexed and privately administered or ad hoc matters. Â A list of representative matters appears at morrilADR.com. Â
Mr. Morril has experience and expertise as a neutral in disputes relating to complex commercial contracts, joint ventures, partnerships, construction, intellectual property including copyrights, trademarks, patents; telecommunications, Internet and domain names, distribution and licensing agreements, good faith and fair dealing, insurance, real estate, motion picture and television financing and production, music licensing, insurance, favored nations pricing; law firm partnerships; fraud; mergers and acquisitions including post-closing adjustments; accounting; energy and power generation, defamation, executive employment; securities law, unfair competition and antitrust.
Mr. Morril's experience at Viacom included transactional, labor and employment (including executive employment), benefits, copyright, trademark, patent, environmental, real estate, privacy, technology, insurance, compliance, regulatory and government affairs matters. He has extensive experience with the law relating to the internet and online technologies. His involvement in complex negotiations and transactions included Viacom's sale of Simon & Schuster, the acquisitions of Blockbuster and CBS, the IPO of Blockbuster and the later spin-offs of Blockbuster and CBS.
Mr. Morril managed the liabilities arising from Viacom's extensive Westinghouse, Gulf+Western and Charter Oil discontinued industrial operations, including 138,000 asbestos cases arising from the Westinghouse business, numerous environmental matters arising from the operations of Gulf+Western and very large pollution insurance coverage disputes.
Mr. Morril's extensive litigation experience as business client and internal lawyer at Viacom included:
Contract and commercial matters
Patent cases involving video games and various interactive video uses
Copyright matters, involving new media copyrights, issues under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act and idea origination cases
Executive employment, labor and benefits disputes
Insurance coverage disputes
Securities law claims
Derivative actions
Music performance rights and issues under the ASCAP and BMI consent decrees
Trademark cases
Environmental matters
Antitrust matters involving book pricing, video and home video distribution, cable network distribution and music licensing
Asbestos litigation (138,000 cases)
Internal investigations and compliance
Defamation matters relating to books, cable TV programming and movies
First Amendment matters
Mr. Morril was involved in a variety of mediations and arbitrations at Viacom as business client and internal lawyer, including disputes involving:
Post-closing adjustments in transactions, including earnout disputes
Contract and commercial matters
Labor and employment, including executive employment disputes and discrimination claims
Intellectual property (copyright and patent) and defamation claims
Insurance coverage disputes (pollution, general liability, errors and omissions, directors' and officers' liability and business interruption coverages)
Environmental disputes
Mr. Morril directly represented Viacom as the principal lawyer in numerous mediations.
Mr. Morril also has extensive experience in complex transactions, general commercial matters, legal issues relating to new technologies and the Internet and in numerous other areas of substantive law. He had extensive business experience as a senior manager at Viacom, as a member of the Executive Committee of Simon & Schuster and as manager of Viacom's large worldwide law department and its outside counsel relationships.
The mediator’s core role, in my view, is to facilitate productive communication between (or among) the parties towards a resolution. Where feasible, the mediator should help the parties consider solutions that involve benefits outside the strict confines of the dispute, such as facilitating insurance or indemnity coverage or the possibility of future business relationships that can confer value on both parties and while resolving the current dispute. I believe that a mediator should be persistent in trying to find a solution and imaginative in suggesting potential solutions that may not be immediately apparent to the parties. As a general principle, the mediator should be non-judgmental, but she or he may express views on the merits of the dispute or on individual issues when invited to do so to help the parties assess the risks and opportunities involved and make appropriate risk-based decisions. Finally, I believe that efficiency is an important value in mediation, as it is in arbitration.
Mr. Morril's experience at Viacom included transactional, labor and employment (including executive employment), benefits, copyright, trademark, patent, environmental, real estate, privacy, technology, insurance, compliance, regulatory and government affairs matters. He has extensive experience with the law relating to the internet and online technologies. His involvement in complex negotiations and transactions included Viacom's sale of Simon & Schuster, the acquisitions of Blockbuster and CBS, the IPO of Blockbuster and the later spin-offs of Blockbuster and CBS. Mr. Morril managed the liabilities arising from Viacom's extensive Westinghouse, Gulf+Western and Charter Oil discontinued industrial operations, including 138,000 asbestos cases arising from the Westinghouse business, numerous environmental matters arising from the operations of Gulf+Western and very large pollution insurance coverage disputes. Mr. Morril's extensive litigation experience as business client and internal lawyer at Viacom included: Contract and commercial matters Patent cases involving video games and various interactive video uses Copyright matters, involving new media copyrights, issues under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act and idea origination cases Executive employment, labor and benefits disputes Insurance coverage disputes Securities law claims Derivative actions Music performance rights and issues under the ASCAP and BMI consent decrees Trademark cases Environmental matters Antitrust matters involving book pricing, video and home video distribution, cable network distribution and music licensing Asbestos litigation (138,000 cases) Internal investigations and compliance Defamation matters relating to books, cable TV programming and movies First Amendment matters Mr. Morril was involved in a variety of mediations and arbitrations at Viacom as business client and internal lawyer, including disputes involving: Post-closing adjustments in transactions, including earnout disputes Contract and commercial matters Labor and employment, including executive employment disputes and discrimination claims Intellectual property (copyright and patent) and defamation claims Insurance coverage disputes (pollution, general liability, errors and omissions, directors' and officers' liability and business interruption coverages) Environmental disputes Mr. Morril directly represented Viacom as the principal lawyer in numerous mediations.
Daily rates preferred for mediation, inclusive of preparation and a reasonable amount of follow up time. Please contact for details. Hourly rates also are available.
Association of the Bar of the City of New York; Immediate past Chair, Council on the Profession Prior: Vice President; Executive Committee, Chair; Executive Committee Liaison to Committees on Arbitration, ADR and International Commercial Disputes; Chair, Task Force on New Lawyers in a Changing Profession; Chair, Committee on Professional and Judicial Ethics
Chief Litigation Counsel Association (past Chair)
Corporate Counsel International Arbitration Group
Institute for Transnational Arbitration (Advisory Board)
American Bar Association (Dispute Resolution, Intellectual Property Law and Litigation Sections; Fellow)
New York State Bar Association (Dispute Resolution Section)
Federal Bar Council.
- Harvard Negotiation Institute at Harvard Law School: Mediating DisputesÂ
- ABA Advanced Mediation and Advocacy Skills InstituteÂ
- AAA Mediation TrainingÂ
- Panel on The Client's Perspective of Business Litigation (May 2012)
- Panel on Litigation Management (October 2011)
- Panel on Techniques for Saving Money, Improving Efficiency and Adding Value (February 2011)
- How Inside and Outside Litigation Counsel Can Add Value and Reduce Costs for Corporate Clients (January 2011)
- Resetting the Agenda with Corporate Clients (October 2011)
- Panel on Making The Short List in 2011 and Staying on It (November 2010)
- Data Driven Triage for Painful Lawsuits: Insights for Corporate Legal Departments on Risk, Predictability and Cost Control (October 2010)
- In-House Counsel Panel (June 2010)
- Qualifications and Training of Business Court Judges (October 2008)
Article: Stephanie Cohen and Mark Morril,
A Call to Cyberarms: The International Arbitrator's Duty to Avoid Digital Instrusion, 40 Fordham ILJ 980 (2017)
TASK FORCE ON NEW LAWYERS IN A CHANGING PROFESSION
Task Force Chair
Report of the Task Force: Developing Legal Careers and Delivering Justice in the 21st Century (New York City Bar 2013)
LEGAL BACKGROUND PAPER:Â Party Autonomy Reigns Supreme: Arbitration and Class Actions in the High Court October 2012 Term (Washington Legal Foundation 2013)