Ira F. Jaffe

Potomac, MD

Ira F. Jaffe has served as an Impartial Arbitrator and Mediator in labor, employment and benefits disputes since 1980, having presided over more than 4000 disputes. He serves as a permanent arbitrator on more than 60 panels in various industries in the private and public sectors, as a mediator for the Office of Compliance, and as Chair of the Foreign Service Grievance Board, resolving grievances filed by foreign service officers at the Department of State and other agencies. He served on three Presidential Emergency Boards under the Railway Labor Act: PEB 236 (United Airlines and the IAMAW), PEB 241 (MetroNorth and the IBT), and PEB 242 (Amtrak and 8 labor organizations). In the benefits area, Mr. Jaffe has arbitrated and mediated hundreds of trustee deadlocks, withdrawal liability matters, benefit claims disputes, and issues under the Pension Protection Act. He also has served as an Independent Fiduciary in connection with approval of settlements pursuant to Prohibited Transaction Exemption 2003-39. Mr. Jaffe is a Charter Fellow and lectures regularly for the National Academy of Arbitrators, the ABA, and other groups, and taught as an Adjunct Professor at George Washington University Law School from 1981-85. He also is a Fellow in The College of Labor and Employment Lawyers.