Shawn K. Aiken

  Mediator • Arbitrator
Special Master

Shawn K. Aiken

Mediator • Arbitrator • Special Master

College of Commercial Arbitrators

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American College of Trial Lawyers

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Academy of Court-Appointed Neutrals

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Request a Date for Your Arbitration or Mediation

To reserve your session, please click your preferred available date below. DeAnn Buchmeier (Shawn's case manager and assistant for over 32 years) will contact you. If you prefer, please contact DeAnn directly at 602-718-3340 or by email.

  • Fees and Rates

    Shawn Aiken's rates are as follows: (a) $795 per hour for 2-party mediations (for multi-party rates, please see rate sheet); (b) $795 per hour for private arbitrations; (c) $795 per hour for engagements as special master or judicial referee; and (d) $795 per hour for arbitrations and mediations administered by the American Arbitration Association (AAA), New Era ADR, the International Centre for Dispute Resolution (ICDR), or the International Institute for Conflict Prevention & Resolution (CPR). Please see the rate sheet for more details on Shawn's fixed and hourly rates, including multi-party mediations.


    Fixed and alternative fees. Phased, hybrid, bracketed, and fixed fee arrangements are available, including fixed half-day ($4,000) and full-day ($9,000) charges for 2-party mediations. Please see rate sheet for details.

  • Agreements and Procedures

    Private Arbitration (billing, filing, and pre-hearing conference). Most often, cases are administered by and under the rules of an administering organization (the AAA, ICDR, or CPR, for example). For arbitrations administered by Shawn Aiken, parties must sign the agreement for arbitration. We then schedule a pre-hearing conference call. Before and during that call, the parties describe the case and develop a schedule covering discovery (if any), pre-hearing motions (if any), and the final hearing, including virtual  hearing procedures. We bill the parties for their respective share of the estimated fee for the proceeding, which must be paid promptly after the first pre-hearing conference call. 


    Mediation (scheduling and billing). Often, administering organizations (AAA and CPR, for example) manage your mediation. For mediations administered by Shawn Aiken, parties must sign and submit the agreement for mediation (for in-person mediation) and pay in advance their respective share of the estimated fee. In preparation for the mediation session, Shawn Aiken welcomes written submissions, including memos (confidential or (preferably) shared), pleadings, motions, expert reports, and other materials. At the close of the (usually one-day) session, if successful, the parties confirm the terms of their agreement with signatures on a term sheet that the parties have developed before the session or a more basic settlement term sheet that the parties draft during the session.


    Resources for Online Dispute Resolution. Please see a sample amendment to the agreement confirming use of Zoom for your mediation session. Please also see our Arbitration Resources page for protocols, forms of subpoenas, and orders related to online arbitration hearings.


    Online Case Management with Case Anywhere. Case Anywhere powers online management of Shawn's private arbitrations and mediations. With Case Anywhere,  parties securely submit and exchange case documents; access records, including transcripts; calendar events; and communicate through secure message boards. See our Case Anywhere page for more information about Case Anywhere.


    Online Dispute Resolution with New Era ADR. With the agreement of the parties, Shawn Aiken offers online mediations and arbitrations via New Era ADR. New Era delivers fully virtual mediations, arbitrations, and hybrid proceedings from start to finish. New Era's resolution platform—multi-party calendaring, document management, streamlined procedures, and flat, up-front pricing—helps parties resolve business disputes more quickly, often in 100 days or less. Get rapid resolution with Shawn Aiken as your neutral on New Era's digital resolution platform at no additional cost. For more details, please contact DeAnn Buchmeier at 602-718-3340 or by email.


    Fees for virtual mediations and arbitrations via New Era ADR. The fees for virtual mediations and arbitrations with Shawn and administered by New Era ADR are as follows: (a) $10,000 flat fee per full day of mediation for 2-party mediations; (b) $15,000 flat fee for virtual mediation with a binding resolution; (c) $10,000 fee flat for virtual expedited arbitrations; and, (d) $35,000 flat fee for virtual, standard arbitrations. Please see New Era's pricing schedule for more details.


    Billing and Case Management. DeAnn Buchmeier (602-718-3340) manages your matter, including intake, calendaring, invoicing, and support along the way.   


    Confidentiality. Since 1983, Shawn has been a member of the State Bar of Arizona. During 2020-2024 he shares office space with the law firm of Shields & Petitti, PLC. Since 2016, he has maintained his own online data, e-mail, conflicts, case management, billing, payment, and other office systems.

  • Disclosure of Contact or Conflict

    If any party or lawyer knows of any contact, disclosure, or conflict that might be relevant, please immediately call or email Shawn Aiken or his administrative assistant and case manager, DeAnn Buchmeier (602-718-3340).


    Shawn is affiliated with the following arbitration and mediation providers: International Centre for Dispute Resolution (ICDR), American Arbitration Association (AAA), and International Institute for Conflict Prevention & Resolution (CPR). He serves on the advisory council of New Era ADR, Inc. (Chicago). 


    From 1990 to 2016, Shawn was a shareholder in Aiken Schenk, P.C. and of counsel to that firm from January 1, 2016 until the firm's closing on March 31, 2020. He does not have access to the Aiken Schenk firm's conflicts database or other client records. If you know of any connection between the Aiken Schenk firm and your matter, please notify Shawn or DeAnn.

  • Availability: Summer 2025

    To schedule an in-person or virtual session during the summer 2025, please see the interactive calendar above or contact DeAnn Buchmeier (602-718-3340).


    Reserve your date. To reserve your date, please click your preferred available date (see calendar above). DeAnn Buchmeier (Shawn's case manager and assistant for over 27 years) will contact you. If you prefer, please call DeAnn at 602-718-3340 or email her at deann@aiken-thomason.com.

Shawn Aiken has arbitrated and mediated cases concerning almost every aspect of commercial law. Parties rely on Shawn to test their trial assessment and help them settle their dispute. And, they trust his resolution of their case in arbitration.

Since 1990, Shawn Aiken has received over 300 arbitral appointments, authored more than 200 arbitration awards, and mediated more than 1000 commercial disputes (see representative cases), including those involving:

  • lenders, borrowers, and guarantors
  • commercial leaseholders and tenants
  • business partners, including closely held shareholders, co-venturers, members of limited liability companies, and family members
  • residential and commercial construction projects
  • claims for breach of fiduciary duty
  • unfair competition
  • fraud and misrepresentation
  • breach of and interference with contract
  • misappropriation of corporate opportunity
  • RICO
  • lost profits and
  • other commercial torts.

Shawn's approach to helping parties to resolve matters begins with case assessment and risk analysis. He aims to help the parties reach resolution through varied approaches, including combining mediation with arbitration and third-party opinion when needed to overcome impasse. At the end of the mediation session, if the parties desire, Shawn may suggest adoption of binding or non-binding techniques to promote final agreement.

In arbitration, Shawn manages every case to achieve the advantages over litigation, including tailor-made pre-hearing proceedings, expedience, and reliable finality.

During the past three years, Shawn's most frequent mediation and arbitration work has been with cases involving:

  • accounting issues
  • business torts
  • class actions
  • construction
  • contracts
  • employment (trade secret, restrictive covenant, FLSA)
  • healthcare
  • insurance coverage and bad faith
  • partnership, member, and shareholder disputes (dissolution, dissociation, etc.)
  • professional liability
  • Shawn Aiken's Economic Damages experience

    Shawn Aiken has an extensive background — in advocacy and arbitration — in disputes over economic damages, including:

    • damages models (e.g., but-for causation, lost profits, loss or destruction of business, and business-interruption losses);
    • business and asset valuation opinions and issues (e.g., application of discounts, definitions of value, and income analysis);
    • accounting principles and issues, including analyses of financial statements;
    • economic methods and statistical analyses (e.g., regressions and Monte Carlo methods); and
    • presentations of damages related to claims and defenses concerning loss causation, consequential losses, reliance damages, out-of-pocket costs, mitigation, future losses, and punitive damages.

  • More about Shawn Aiken's professional and personal background

    Since 2017, over 250 lawyers and law firms have asked Shawn to mediate their clients' business disputes, especially those involving breach of contract, including partnership, shareholder, operating, joint-venture, buy-sell, and merger agreements; claims for dissolution and dissociation involving founders, shareholders, and partners in, for example, the cannabis, financial, legal, medical, publishing, real estate, and securities industries; and, claims arising out of purchase, lease, construction, operating, shareholder, licensing, and employment agreements.


    Shawn has long experience in cases arising out of disputes in closely held entities, including valuation of stock, partnership, and membership interests; derivative actions; breach of the implied covenant of good faith and fiduciary duties;  theft of trade secrets and confidential information; and, employment disputes, frequently involving claims of unfair competition and breach of restrictive covenants.


    As a litigator, Shawn also played a lead role in high-profile, public-interest cases that included successful outcomes regarding same-sex marriage and local minimum wage rights.


    Since 1995, he has mediated hundreds of cases in other areas, including the construction (commercial and residential), franchising, banking, and healthcare fields; insurance disputes, including coverage and claims of bad faith (first- and third-party); class and collective actions; disputes over attorney's fees; and, claims for legal and accounting malpractice.


    In 2009, Shawn became a Fellow of the College of Commercial Arbitrators.


    In 2015, he became a Fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers.


    He has been named Best Lawyers® "Lawyer of the Year" (Phoenix) for mediation (2012, 2015) and arbitration (2019 and 2021). Over the past 16 years, Best Lawyers® has recognized Shawn for his work as arbitrator, commercial litigator, and mediator (2007 - 2024), including Tier 1 ranking in all 3 categories for 2024 (Phoenix Metro). And, every year since 2009, he has ranked among Super Lawyers' Top 50 Arizona lawyers.


    Today, in addition to his mediation and arbitration work, Shawn is the sole member of Aiken Law Firm, PLLC (ALF) (2022) and co-founder of Aiken Farrell Kroloff LLC (AFK) (2023), an Arizona Alternative Business Structure law firm. In the coming months, AFK will begin to deliver legal services to victims of sexual abuse. The firm will co-counsel with leading trial firms around the United States on those (and other) matters. Shawn also serves as compliance lawyer for Sunridge Law Group, LLC, an Arizona Alternative Business Structure law firm (2022).


    After growing up in rural Minnesota, Shawn attended St. Olaf College, in Northfield, Minnesota, where he met Lynn, his wife of over 40 years, a Michigan native. He attended Arizona State University College of Law. Shawn and Lynn have two married children and three grandchildren.

Honors and Awards

"Lawyer of the Year" (Phoenix), The Best Lawyers in America®: Mediation, 2012 and 2015; Arbitration, 2019 and 2021
The Best Lawyers in America® Metro Tier 1 Rankings (Arizona): Arbitration (2011-2025), Mediation (2011-2025), Commercial Litigation (2007-2025)
Super Lawyers: “Top 50 Arizona,” 2009-2025; Selectee, Alternative Dispute Resolution, Business Litigation (2007-2025)
Phoenix Magazine "Top Lawyer" (Arbitration and Mediation), 2022, 2023
Million Dollar Advocates Forum (1986 -    )
"Az Business Leaders" (Law: ADR), AzBusiness Magazine, 2017-2020
"Top 100 Lawyers," AzBusiness Magazine, 2013-2019
Arizona Supreme Court Distinguished Service Award (Pro Bono Category), 2018

Bar and Court Admissions

Arizona, 1983
U.S. District Court for the District of Arizona, 1983
U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, 1983
Supreme Court of the United States, 2010

Education

J.D., Arizona State University, 1983
B.A., cum laude, St. Olaf College, 1980: National Collegiate Champion, Extemporaneous Speaking, 1980

Selected Writing

Brief of Amici Curiae, Changing Hands Bookstore, Inc. et al. in Support of Petitioners (August 2020)
Brief of Amici Curiae, Hon. Kate Gallego in Her Official Capacity as Mayor, City of Phoenix; Hon. Coral Evans in Her Official Capacity as Mayor, City of Flagstaff; and, Hon. Regina Romero in Her Official Capacity as Mayor, City of Tucson in Support of Petitioners (April 2020). In Arizonans for Second Chances v. Hobbs, four political action committees sued the Arizona Secretary of State seeking to allow ballot initiatives to meet Arizona's signature requirement through an online system similar to the method used to gather signatures for political candidates.
“Mediation as a Part of the Construction Claims-Solving Process” (chapter author), Arizona Construction Law Practice Manual, 3rd Ed. 2016, State Bar of Arizona
"Unfair Competition in Arizona," 2004

Selected Presentations

"Mediation Gambits, Ploys, and Strategies" (panelist), American College of Civil Trial Mediators, July 2022
"Arbitration Agreements" (panelist), Arizona Judicial Conference, June 2022
"Writing Effective Settlement Conference Letters and Mediation Briefs" (panelist), Construction Law Section-State Bar of Arizona, March 2022
Facilitator, ABA Arbitration Training Institute, March 2020
"ADR Talks: Creative Procedures in Arbitration," State Bar of Arizona Annual Convention, June 2019
“Buy-Sell Agreements: ‘Prenups’ for Business Owners” (panelist), State Bar of Arizona, October 2018
"Construction Law: Mediation Best Practices" (panelist), State Bar of Arizona Annual Convention, June 2018
Arizona College of Trial Advocacy (faculty member), State Bar of Arizona, August 2017
“Arbitration Talks: Preparing for the Arbitration Hearing” (panelist), State Bar of Arizona Annual Convention, June 2017
Mediation panelist, “4th Annual Insurance Law Institute,” State Bar of Arizona, June 2017
“Breaking Impasse in Mediation,” 14th Annual Advanced Mediation and Advocacy Skills Institute, American Bar Association, October 2016
“Best Practices in Commercial Arbitration” (webinar co-presenter), American Arbitration Association, April 2016
“Neutrals’ Roundtable: Motions and Award Modifications” (panelist), American Arbitration Association, Denver, 2015
"Conducting Research and Investigations: The Arbitrator’s Authority" (faculty), American Arbitration Association, 2014
“Ten Worst Mistakes Lawyers Make in Mediation of Litigated Commercial and Business Disputes, and How to Avoid Them” (webinar), ASU Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law, June 2014
"Court Assigned Arbitration," State Bar of Arizona, March 2010