Edward K. Lenci

Edward K. Lenci is a Partner at Hinshaw & Culbertson LLP in New York, where he leads the firm's Reinsurance Section. With over 35 years of experience in commercial litigation and arbitration, his practice focuses on reinsurance, insurance, consumer financial disputes, and arbitration agreements with class action waivers. Mr. Lenci holds a JD from Columbia Law School and a BA, summa cum laude, from Fordham University.

Mr. Lenci has an extensive track record in high-stakes litigation and arbitration, including a US Supreme Court victory enforcing a class action waiver in a student loan contract, and a rare vacatur of an arbitral award before the Illinois Appellate Court. He has shaped key precedent on sovereign immunity in international arbitration, securing a federal appellate ruling that a foreign government-owned reinsurer had waived immunity from pre-award security. Mr. Lenci serves as both counsel and arbitrator in domestic and international proceedings, is a certified arbitrator with FINRA and ARIAS-US, and is a member of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators.

Mr. Lenci served as Chair of the New York State Bar Association (NYSBA) International Section in 2021–2022, during which he founded the Ukraine Task Force in response to the Russian invasion and forged partnerships with bar associations across Europe, Asia, and Latin America. He is a member of the International Advisory Board of Arbitration Ireland and has moderated and spoken at events connecting the Irish and New York legal communities, including programmes on comparative arbitration practice between Ireland and New York. Mr. Lenci publishes regularly in outlets including the New York Law Journal, ARIAS-US Quarterly, and Law360.