Dana MacGrath, FCIArb, is an independent arbitrator listed on the rosters of various arbitral institutions and has served as chair, co-arbitrator and sole arbitrator in multiple arbitrations over the course of her arbitration career of more than two decades. Her unique mix of experience includes serving as an arbitrator, arbitration practitioner, in-house counsel and professor of law.  In July 2022, she joined Arbitra International, a management service for arbitrators.

Prior to launching her independent arbitrator practice, she spent more than two years in-house focusing on arbitration finance and 20+ years as an arbitration practitioner and arbitrator in the arbitration practice group at several global law firms, including Sidley Austin, Allen & Overy and O’Melveny & Myers, having started her legal career at Sullivan & Cromwell. She has a broad range of experience in arbitrations involving a variety of businesses and industries, among them oil and gas, LNG price reviews, construction, energy, finance, telecommunications, intellectual property (FRAND disputes), life sciences, sale of goods and international investments. She has also represented parties in U.S. courts regarding the enforceability of arbitration agreements and arbitral awards under the New York Convention. She has been recognized as a leader in international arbitration in various directories as well as a thought leader in arbitration third-party funding.

Dana is active within the international arbitration field across arbitral institutions and organizations. She is on the Council of the AAA-ICDR, co-chairs the AAA Large Complex Case Committee, and is a member of the AAA Nominating and Governance Committee. Dana is also an active member of the CPR Arbitration Committee. Previously she served as Chair of the Arbitration Committee of the Association of the Bar of the City of New York and as co-chair of the CPR Institute Arbitration Rules Revision Committee that revised CPR’s domestic and international arbitration rules. Additionally, Dana served on the ICC Commission on Arbitration Task Force on Reducing Time and Cost in Complex Arbitration and the ICC Commission on Arbitration Task Force on National Rules of Procedure for Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Awards Pursuant to the New York Convention of 1958.

Over the course of her arbitration career, Dana has been recognized as a leader in international arbitration in various directories including Chambers USA – Nationwide – International Arbitration and Who’s Who Legal: Arbitration. She has also been recognized in the field of arbitration finance in various directories.

Dana is a committed leader in the diversity and inclusion space. She served as President of the Board of Directors of ArbitralWomen for four years (July 2018-June 2022), having joined the Board in 2016. She is also on the Global Steering Committee of the Equal Representation in Arbitration Pledge and launched the USA Sub-Committee of the Arbitration Pledge in late 2021. She is also Strategic Advisor and on the Global Steering Committee of Racial Equality for Arbitration Lawyers, on the Advisory Board of the Rising Arbitrators Initiative and on the North American Committee for the Campaign for Greener Arbitrations.

Dana regularly speaks and writes on international arbitration issues. She co-authored a chapter on Covid-19 and Third-Party Funding published by Kluwer International in 2020, and several articles on recent case law regarding U.S. discovery pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1782 in aid of foreign arbitrations. She long served as an adjunct professor of law at Brooklyn Law School and also serves as an adjunct professor of law at Fordham Law School.

Dana earned her J.D. from New York University School of Law in 1996 and her B.A., cum laude, from Middlebury College in 1991. She is a member of the New York Bar. She is fluent in English and proficient in French, having majored in French at Middlebury and lived in Paris for a year.