PETER R. SILVERMAN

With more than 35 years of experience, Peter focuses his practice in the area of commercial litigation and general business counsel, including a number of specialty areas, such as:

• Franchising/distribution

• Alternative dispute resolution

• Intellectual property

• Securities

• Sports

• Antitrust

The nonprofit EDR Institute was founded by Peter Silverman in 2019.  Peter is an experienced litigator, a sought-after mediator and arbitrator, a dean of the franchise bar and a partner at the Schumaker firm in Toledo.  Peter drafted the first Protocols to guide parties’ use of the EDR process which are published by the Institute.  He invited Anne Jordan and Michael Hawash, experienced mediators who frequently write and speak on EDR, to join him as trustees of the Institute.

Since its inception, the Institute has trained neutrals in the EDR process, assisted judges in implementing EDR as an option in the settlement programs and promoted early dispute resolution to advocates, parties and neutrals.

As a neutral, Peter has been an active arbitrator since 1986 and a mediator since 1990. He is a member of the American Arbitration Association Large, Complex Case Arbitration Panel, the Conflict Prevention & Resolution Panel of Distinguished Neutrals, and the Ohio Chapter of the National Academy of Distinguished Neutrals. He is also the sole United States arbitrator on the Chair/Sole Arbitrator Panel of the European Union-based International Distribution Institute, which offers expedited arbitration for international distribution and franchising disputes. Peter currently chairs the Early Dispute Resolution Committee of the American Bar Association Section of Dispute Resolution, the Early Dispute Resolution Task Force for the International Franchise Association, and the Dispute Resolution Committee of the Ohio Bar Association Corporations Committee. He teaches seminars nationwide and writes widely on alternative dispute resolution.

Clients look to Peter for his business experience. From 2013-2016, Peter was an active partner in the Oasis restaurant chain, which was elected to the Northwest Ohio Entrepreneurial & Business Excellence Hall of Fame in 2014. Between 2004 and 2010, Peter owned and was President of Hi-Genomics, a biotechnology company that genetically transformed plants. Committed to helping entrepreneurial businesses, he received the 1989 Ernst and Young/Inc. Magazine Entrepreneur of the Year Award for his work in helping business owners start and grow their businesses. In addition, Peter is an individual member of the University of Toledo and Bowling Green State University Entrepreneurial & Business Excellence Hall Of Fame.

Peter currently serves on the board of the Toledo Chabad House and teaches Sunday School. As a public official, he formerly served on the Toledo City Council, the Toledo School Board, and the Ohio Casino Commission.