Forty-six years in the courtroom. Now an arbitrator for complex commercial and consumer disputes.

Stephen Fennell spent 46 years as a trial attorney at a national law firm, building a complex civil litigation practice across commercial, environmental, insurance, intellectual property, and regulatory matters. He headed the firm's litigation department from 2005 to 2014, and now devotes his practice principally to serving as an arbitrator, through a Delaware LLC.

His academic foundation is a B.A. in English from the University of Maryland (1974, Magna Cum Laude, Phi Beta Kappa) and a J.D. from Georgetown University Law Center (1978, Magna Cum Laude, Georgetown Law Journal), followed by a clerkship on the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland. In 1980, he published an 85-page lead article in the Harvard Law Review on criminal sentencing that was cited in the subsequent amendment to Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure 32.

His trial record spans matters of national significance. In 1982, he obtained a judgment on behalf of a Black family in a cross-burning case that drew front-page Washington Post coverage and a visit from President Reagan, who traveled to the family's home to apologize on behalf of the Nation. From 2001 to 2017, he represented 17 Gulf War I POWs and 37 family members in a torture suit against the Republic of Iraq, securing a $959 million judgment, an appeal to the Supreme Court of the United States, and ultimately a nine-figure settlement.

In 2003, after successfully defending against a Fortune 50 company's billion-dollar request for insurance coverage, he was asked to represent that company in the underlying lawsuits — a relationship that has continued for more than two decades.

He is an arbitrator on the American Arbitration Association's Commercial Panel (since 2024) and Consumer Panel (since 2021), with concentrations in commercial contract disputes, consumer contracts, Magnuson-Moss, FCRA and state equivalents, and AI/Cyber-related matters. His matters often involve Delaware law. He accepts appointments as sole arbitrator and on three-member panels.

Mediation remains a secondary part of the practice. Stephen has handled approximately 300 mediations for the District of Columbia Superior Court's Multi-Door Program since 2012, and accepts a limited number of private mediations where the matter is a good fit.

Stephen is admitted to the bars of the District of Columbia (1979), Maryland (1985), Delaware (2013), and New York (2013), along with numerous federal courts including the Supreme Court of the United States. He has been recognized in Who's Who in America (2025), Marquis Top Lawyers (2025), and continuously by Martindale-Hubbell as AV Pre-eminent since 1998.

His geographic center of gravity is Delaware, with active ties to Maryland, New York and the District of Columbia. He prefers virtual hearings, which expands his effective reach nationwide while keeping costs and scheduling friction low for the parties.