Practice Areas
Accounting Law, Banking Law, Commercial Law, Contract Law, Copyright Law, Corporate Law, Entertainment Law, Financial Services, Fine Art Law, Fine Art Law, Information Technology Industry, Intellectual Property Law, International Law, Multi-Party Disputes, Partnership Disputes, Performing Arts Industry, Printing Industry, Publishing Industry, Royalties Law, Sale of Goods Law, Small Business Law, Trade Law, Trademark Law
Professional Experience
Mel has served as an arbitrator for over 30 years and a mediator for over 20 years. He now devotes most of his time to mediating and arbitrating disputes as Simburg Dispute Resolution. He has advised clients and provided dispute resolution assistance for business, real estate, intellectual property (IP), web contracts, technology and rights licenses, and international transactions. He also facilitates partnerships and organizations with formation, dissolution, change and conflict resolution issues. Related to his areas of practice, he has served on Washington State and ABA committees, chaired seminars and written several articles. He has presented on mediation and arbitration matters numerous times.
Arbitration Experience
Mr. Simburg sits on national panels for the American Arbitration Association (Mediation; Large Complex Cases; Intellectual Property; Commercial Disputes), the International Centre for Dispute Resolution, Upwork (online freelancer-client disputes), FINRA (securities disputes), VanIAC, CIIDRC for domain name disputes, the Rule 39.1 panel for the U.S.D.C. W.D. WA and the Mediation Panel for the Bankruptcy Court, King County Superior Court Arbitration, and KCBA LRS ADR Panel. He is also a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators.
He serves as arbitrator or mediator in a variety of business-related disputes, many of which involve cross-border, multi-cultural and/or intellectual property matters. He has resolved a significant number of franchise, licensing and distribution disputes. He has served as a neutral in computer system installations involving up to several million dollars. Internet-related disputes have involved such matters as banking, copyright infringement, trademark infringement, trade dress issues, domain names. He is familiar with conducting and participating in remote hearings and online dispute resolution. He has resolved over 180 ODR arbitrations addressing copyright infringement and illegal download of entertainment media.
Mr. Simburg has participated in over thirty ADR training sessions in the last 10 years.
Professional and Other Activities
Mr. Simburg is the 2020-2022 Chair of the ADR Section of the Washington State Bar Association. He serves on State and ABA committees and chairs seminars and symposia here and abroad. He has served as a volunteer attorney for Washington Lawyers for the Arts, Seattle Public Theatre, Seward Park Art Studio and the Faces for Life Project of the Puget Sound Blood and Tissue Center. He was lead counsel for the firm’s representation of the “Best of the USSR Software and Technology Show” held in connection with the 1990 Good Will Games.
Recent ADR presentations include “The Value of an Effective Apology in Resolving Business Disputes,”
“Tips for a More Secure Environment for Online Dispute Resolution,” “ADR and Environmental Disputes,”
“Domain Name Disputes,” “Introduction to Mediation,” “ADR and Business Disputes,” “Protecting IP Value in ADR,” “Interim Measures in Arbitration,” and “IP Disputes: Litigate, Arbitrate or Mediate?”
Academic Qualifications
Columbia University School of Law, J.D., 1972
Columbia University School of International & Public Affairs, M.I.A., 1972
University of California-Berkeley, B.A.(Citation in Macroeconomics), B.A., 1968