Nathan O’Malley is a partner in the Los Angeles-based law firm of Musick Peeler & Garrett, where he leads the International Litigation and Arbitration Practice Group. His experience as an international arbitration specialist includes handling joint venture, construction and engineering, conventional and renewable energy, manufacturing and distribution, as well as information technology disputes.

O’Malley frequently represents clients in arbitrations seated outside of California and has appeared before arbitral tribunals in Geneva, Zurich, Amsterdam, Brussels, The Hague, Frankfurt, Singapore, Abu Dhabi and Toronto. He has handled cases under most of the prominent arbitral rules, including those of the ICC, UNCITRAL, Stockholm Chamber of Commerce, Netherlands Arbitration Institute, Swiss Rules, American Arbitration Association (ICDR) and World Intellectual Property Organization. O’Malley also acts for clients in matters seated in the United States and has argued before state and federal courts, including the California Courts of Appeal and the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in matters pertaining to international arbitration. In 2017, he successfully argued the matter of Portland General Electric v. Liberty Mutual Insurance Company et al., 862 F.3d 981 (9th Cir. 2017) on behalf of the amicus curiae, which was the first opinion of the Ninth Circuit to consider whether courts must defer to arbitrators on issues of arbitrability when the ICC Rules of Arbitration apply.

Reflecting his experience in the field, O’Malley has been appointed as an international arbitrator (neutral) on multiple occasions by the Paris-based ICC International Court of Arbitration, the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague, the AAA (ICDR) and is admitted to the roster of international arbitrators with the Korean Commercial Arbitration Board.

O’Malley also serves as an adjunct faculty and as a member of the Advisory Committee for ADR programs at the USC Gould School of Law. He has authored a number of law-journal articles on various topics concerning international contracts and arbitration, and has authored a leading text on the field of evidence in international arbitration, The Rules of Evidence in International Arbitration: An Annotated Guide, 2nd Edition (Routledge/Informa, London).