Cedric Chao, a litigation partner in Morrison & Foerster’s San Francisco office, co-chairs the firm’s international litigation and arbitration practice. He focuses his practice on business litigation, international commercial arbitration, and business crimes and internal investigations. His client base spans many industries and countries. Mr. Chao has been recommended as a leading lawyer by several publications, including Chambers USA, The Best Lawyers of America, Guide to the World’s Leading Litigation Lawyers, Guide to the World’s Leading Experts in Commercial Arbitration, Asialaw, and Northern California Super Lawyers.
Mr. Chao serves as lead counsel in high-stakes matters before U.S. trial judges and juries (civil and criminal), international arbitration tribunals, and appellate courts. He has argued 11 times before the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, once before the U.S. Supreme Court, and three times before the California State Court of Appeal. Mr. Chao has led teams in significant international commercial arbitration proceedings under the rules of the ICC, the ICDR, the LCIA, UNCITRAL, and JAMS. He has served as an ICC and SIAC arbitrator. He is on the lists of approved international arbitrators maintained by SIAC and CIETAC.
Mr. Chao currently serves as a U.S. representative to the ICC Commission on Arbitration; an adviser to the American Law Institute project to draft the Restatement of the U.S. Law of International Commercial Arbitration; president of the Northern California International Arbitration Club; member of the board of directors of Lex Mundi; North American jurisdictional member of the Inter-Pacific Bar Association; member of ChinaSF’s advisory board; and secretary of the board of directors of the Hong Kong Association of Northern California. He has also served as the Ninth Circuit representative on the Standing Committee on the Federal Judiciary of the American Bar Association; the chair of the U.S. Magistrate Judge Screening Committee for the Northern District of California; and the chair of the Litigation Section of the State Bar of California.