NOTRE DAME, 82  |  LOYOLA, 85

GENERAL BACKGROUND AND EXPERIENCE

Donald “Don” Hayden comes to any new engagement as either advocate, or arbitrator with thirty-eight years of experience as a commercial litigator and with a reputation as a seasoned practitioner in the international arbitration arena. Don led the Disputes Practice at Baker McKenzie’s Miami Office for almost twenty years and with it developed a focus on cross-border disputes primarily coming out of Latin America. Six years ago, Don founded the firm of Mark Migdal & Hayden, a litigation and arbitration boutique.

Until recently, Don’s primary focus was as an advocate in international arbitration disputes and in the state and federal courts here in Florida and elsewhere. While still handling commercial disputes to some degree, his focus is toward acting as an arbitrator as both sole arbitrator and as a member of a tribunal. He has been active in the arbitration community in South Florida for many years as a founding member of the Miami International Arbitration Society, a board member of that organization for over twelve years, Chair of that organization last year and co-chair of the MIAS LATAM Investor State Arbitration Conference for the last two years. He often speaks and writes in the international arbitration space. He has acted as an arbitrator for the ICC, ICDR, AAA and ad hoc arbitrations. He has acted as an advocate in more than fifty international arbitrations involving most of the leading arbitral bodies. He has been a fellow in the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators since 2014 and he is Board Certified by the Florida Bar in International Litigation and Arbitration.

Don has been ranked in Chambers & Partners since 2009 for commercial litigation as well as most of the other vetting bodies including but not limited to Best Lawyers in America, South Florida Legal Guide, Florida’s Super Lawyers, Florida Trend Legal Elite and the Legal 500 for either litigation or international arbitration. He is ranked as Martindale-Hubbell AV­ Preeminent as well as Judicially Recognized, the highest rankings from that organization, and he has held that recognition for over 20 years.

In 2010, he was inducted as a Fellow of the Litigation Counsel of America. Over the years, Chambers has described him as “a solid and experienced litigator” and praising his “legal strategy and advocacy skills.” Consistently clients and other commentators focus on Don’s practical and even-keeled approach to attacking an issue and his commitment to client satisfaction.

REPRESENTATIVE EXPERIENCE

• Represented target defendant in the Chinese Manufactured Drywall Litigation, which involved hundreds of national class actions consolidated in a multi-district proceeding in the federal court in New Orleans. Knauf Plasterboard, one of the world’s largest privately-held building materials manufacturers was the primary defendant in litigation involving over 30,000 impacted found primarily throughout the Southeastern U.S. Litigation arising from installation of Chinese drywall product in new home construction. After several years of hard fought bellwether trials and litigation, the matter was resolved through omnibus settlements with homeowners and developers totaling throughout the southeastern Untied States.
• Represented one of venture partners against Waste Management and other venture partner involving tortious interference and other claims arising from Waste Management’s $510 million purchase of the assets being used by the joint venture to compete in the Broward County waste market.
• Successfully, representing a Professional Commercial Insurers of America, of the leading organization of commercial insurers in the United States, in major industry price fixing investigation by the Florida Department of Insurance in Tallahassee, Florida.
• Successfully overturned monetary penalties and negotiated favorable resolution of licensing violations for major international design firm with the Florida Department of Professional Regulation in Tallahassee, Florida.
• Obtained favorable appellate decision from Second Circuit Court of Appeals affirming lower court’s refusal to reinstate federal proceedings capping an extended representation over many years to prevent a $1 billion claim against Banco do Brasil, a major international financial institution, from being here in the United States. Through contorted pleading of the claims and manipulation of the Brazilian courts, the plaintiff sought to have the matter reinstated which had originally been dismissed on forum non conveniens grounds. Mendes Junior International Company
  V. Banco do Brasil, S.A. 394 Fed. Appx. 787 (2d Cir. 201O; Mendes Junior lnt’I Co. V. Banco do Brasil., S.A., 15 F. Supp. 332 (S.D.N.Y. 1998).
• Obtained dismissal of claims under Florida Whistleblower’s Statute by terminated executive working in Latin American operations against leading internet and technology company through motion practice as well as favorable resolution of wrongful discharge claims in related arbitration in US and civil litigation in Argentina.
• Represented Brazilian aviation parts provider with long term exclusive sales representative agreements for major European aviation conglomerate in its wrongful termination claims involving independent contracts with various subsidiaries and affiliate companies requiring the prosecution of parallel ICC and LCIA proceedings as well as ancillary judicial proceedings eventually resulting in negotiation of an omnibus settlement.
• Negotiated the dismissal of RICO claims involving alleged kickbacks in the award of oil exploration and drilling rights with stated damages of more than USD250 million against Ecopetrol, a state-owned oil company, the President of the Republic of Colombia and other government officials.
• Represented Florida company in its claims against Bariven, a wholly owned subsidiary of PDVSA, the Venezuelan state-owned oil company in substantial claims arising out of sale of powdered milk from China contaminated with melamine involving parallel proceedings in Miami and Cayman Islands.
• Obtained the dismissal of a USD900 million arbitration award brought by a United States utility company against the Republic of Ecuador.
• Counseled AT&T in the supplementary proceedings that followed a USD177 million judgment against the Republic of Cuba in the highly­ publicized “Brothers to the Rescue” case.
• Negotiated significant settlement of an international arbitration claim arising out of termination of a Brazilian power generation agreement.
• Advised Boris Becker in his divorce and multijurisdictional custody battle, as well as other high net worth individuals in multijurisdictional divorce proceedings.
• Advocate and Arbitrator Experience in the IA Space
• Has tried over 50 matters to verdict or award and argued over 75 appeals.
• He has been involved in over 40 arbitration disputes primarily in the commercial arbitration space and involving international or cross border disputes.
• He is one of a small number of practitioners who have been Board Certified by the Florida Bar in International Litigation and Arbitration. He now sits on the Certification Committee in that area for the Florida Bar.
• He is a Fellow in the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators and has been since 2014. Chartered Institute is a leading international organization for international arbitrators. Fellowship is only obtained through substantial vetting and testing of applicants.
• He has acted as an arbitrator on more than a dozen occasions in matters administered by the International Chamber of Commerce (“ICC”), the International Centre for Dispute Resolution (“’ICDR”)
• Don was one of the founding members of the Miami International Arbitration Society (“MIAS”) and he has been on its board of directors since its inception. He is presently the Immediate Past Chair of that organization. He initiated and Co-Chaired that organization’s highly successful LATAM Investor-State Arbitration Conference held annually and was instrumental in developing Miami Arbitration Week this year.

REPRESENTATIVE CLIENT LIST

The list of clients that Don has represented over the years run the gamut from AT&T in the Brothers to the Rescue litigation involving blocked accounts held by AT&T for Cuba to representing Boon Rawd Brewery, the largest brewery in Asia which operates under the Singha brand, to representation of Banco do Brasil in a series of appeals involving issues of forum non conveniens.

ARBITRATOR PROFILE ON MIAS
https://www.mias.org/individual-member-profile/don/hayden/mark-migdal-%26-hayden

AWARDS AND RECOGNITIONS

• Chambers & Partners USA ranked since 2009.
• Legal 500, International Arbitration
• Best Lawyers in America for both Commercial Litigation and International Arbitration, 2014-Present.
• LAW 360 Editorial Advisory Board, 2015-2017
• Miami International Arbitration Society (“MIAS”), member of Board of Directors since inception, Chair in 2022, and Co-Chair of Investor State Conference for last two years.
• ABA, Section of Dispute Resolution.
• Florida Civil Rules Committee, Florida Bar, 2015-2022
• Member of Certification Committee for Florida Bar Certification in International Litigation and Arbitration. 2023- Present
• Board Certification in International Litigation and Arbitration 2018- Present.
• Bar Licenses: Florida and Illinois

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SPEAKING ENGAGEMENTS

April 8, 2020   Insurance Journal

Panelist on COVID-19 webinar for Insurance Journal

“Business Interruption and the Coronavirus: Things to Know”

April 6, 2017   Miami Global Pound Conference

Member of the Organizing Committee of the Miami Global Pound Conference and moderated Panel of Corporate Counsel, Florida Bar President and Leading Commercial Jurist regarding

“Use of Technology in Future Dispute Resolution”

November 3, 2016   Federal Bar Association,

“The Nuts & Bolts of International Litigation”

May 14, 2015   Berger Singerman,

“Using Class Action Waivers in Employment Setting”

January 15, 2015   Berger Singerman,

“Best Practices in Arbitration: The Good, the Bad and the Ugly”

September 2, 2014   Caribbean Arbitration Conference

Presented at the University of Miami School of Law’s International Arbitration Institute.

ARTICLES & ANNOUNCEMENTS

December 15, 2020  Law360,

4 Tips For Employers After 11th Circ. Supports $4M Arb. Award

August 31, 2020  Law360,

“How Supreme Court May Resolve Int’l Discovery Circuit Split”

May 31, 2019  The Miami Herald,

“Who’s next in line for a Cuban reparations lawsuit?”

May 1, 2019  The Daily Business Review,

“Will Title III Enforcement of Helms-Burton Act Open Floodgates to Cuban Reparations Claims?”

February 26, 2019  The Daily Business Review,

“Forum Non Conveniens: A Vehicle for Sending Foreign Litigants Back Where They Belong”

December 29, 2017  The Daily Business Review,

“The Rise of Third-Party Funding in International Arbitration”

July 20, 2016  Law360,

Don Hayden on “3 Things To Weigh Before Using A 3rd-Party Funder”

February 29, 2016  Law360,

Announces Don Hayden as Part of the 2016 International Arbitration Editorial Advisory Board

December 3, 2014  Doing Business in Florida,

“Florida: A Bright Destination for International Arbitration”