Michael Chambers is a resident of Mobile, Alabama. He is an experienced litigator, mediator, arbitrator and businessman.
Chambers has been recognized as one of the Best Lawyers in the United States in Commercial Litigation and a Top Rated Lawyer in Health Care. As a result of his extensive litigation experience, he was certified previously as a Civil Trial Advocate by the National Board of Trial Advocacy (“NBTA”). He previously prepared and graded exams for those attorneys in the United States seeking certification by the NBTA. He is licensed to practice in Alabama, New York and Washington, D.C.
Mr. Chambers serves on the International, Class Action, Commercial, and Large Complex Cases and Employment Panels of the American Arbitration Association (“AAA”). He has served as Co-Chair of national panels of arbitrators in both the New York Life and the Transamerica Class Action Settlement ADR programs. He trains other AAA arbitrators throughout the United States, has written arbitration materials for the Advanced Arbitration Training Program, and routinely teaches that course. He has created an index of the AAA Commercial Rules that is available through this site. He is also “Of Counsel” to the law firm of Cabaniss Johnston.
Dr. Chambers helped establish InnoRx Pharmaceuticals in 1999, a company specializing in development of drugs and drug delivery systems for ocular disease. He served as President and CEO of InnoRx until negotiating its sale and merger into SurModics (NASDAQ: SRDX) in January 2005. Currently, he serves as the President and CEO of Swift Biotech, a company he founded. Swift is developing several technologies in collaboration with the Mitchell Cancer Institute, including screens for endometrial and ovarian cancer, two critical cancers affecting women in the United States. One of the technologies was recently awarded a $1.2M grant from the National Institutes of Health and received an award at an international conference for Best Global Research.
He previously served as Chairman of the Board of ProUroCare, a publicly traded company based in Minneapolis, and as a director for InQ Biosystems and Gene Capture, two life science companies. He was a member of the team authoring the commercialization component of the Alabama Science & Technology Roadmap. In 2014, he was named Start-Up Executive of the Year by Alabama Launchpad.
Active in the community, he serves or has served on various boards of directors, including the Economic Development Partnership of Alabama, Biotechnology Association of Alabama, Rotary, the Rotary Children’s Foundation, the YMCA, Goodwill-Easter Seals, the Mobile Area Chamber of Commerce, Pritchard Preparatory School and the Presbyterian Home for Children. He served as Chairman of the Board of the Mobile Area Chamber of Commerce in 2014. In 2009 he produced the short documentary, Lusaka, a Sundance Film Festival submission, on the plight of children with HIV/AIDS in Zambia.
An active Rotarian, he is past president of the Rotary Club of Mobile, Assistant Governor, a Paul Harris Fellow and Major Donor. He will serve as District Governor of Rotary District 6880 in 2015. He has received the Citation of Meritorious Service from the Rotary Foundation and the Service Above Self Award from Rotary International for contributions to the health and welfare of women and children in Central America.
Dr. Chambers is married to the Honorable Rosemary de Juan Chambers, Circuit Judge of Mobile County. They have two daughters, Carmen and Camille. Carmen is a 2012 Yale graduate and attending law school at Georgetown. Camille is a 2014 Yale graduate, currently pursuing a modeling career with the Wilhelmina International Modeling Agency in New York, also planning to attend law school.
He speaks fluent French and Spanish.
For official CV, please click the attached link.
Selected Training and Experience of Michael Chambers
AAA/New York Life Insurance Class Action Mediation and Arbitration Orientation and Training (Dallas, TX) (Selected Co-Chair of national panel of arbitrators).
Transamerica Life Insurance Class Action Mediation and Arbitration Orientation and Training (Los Angeles, CA) (Selected Co-Chair of national panel of arbitrators)
One of 10 neutrals in the United States proposed by the AAA and approved by counsel for all parties to arbitrate all appeals in the Sun Life Insurance Company nationwide class action settlement.
AAA National Faculty of Arbitration Training, certified AAA Trainer for AAA arbitration programs; Management of Large Complex Cases.
One of 25 arbitrators selected in 1998 by the American Arbitration Association (“AAA”) to train other AAA arbitrators in the United States.
Member, Curriculum Committee for AAA National Advanced Arbitrator Training Program.Trainer, Advanced Arbitration Course for all AAA arbitrators in the United States.
Selected by AAA national office as the trainer for first panel of National Transportation Arbitrators (Hilton Head, SC, May 2000).AAA National Faculty of Arbitration Training, certified AAA Trainer for arbitrators in the United States.
Faculty, National Large Complex Cases Panel Retreat, Role of Chairman in Three-Person Panels (Phoenix, AZ).
One of 24 judges and mediators selected from applicants world-wide to attend initial Advanced Mediation Training (Harvard Law School).
International Arbitration: AAA/Stanford Law School (Palo Alto, CA); Effective Management of Arbitrations (ADR Superconference, Washington, D.C.).
AAA National Neutrals’ Retreat: Large Complex Case Management, Responsibilities of Panel Chairperson (Orlando, FL)