Representative Issues Handled as a Mediator
Primary mediation practice areas include employment/labor, business torts, business/commercial/contracts, health, insurance, intellectual property, libel/slander/defamation and personal injury.
Issues in employment matters include Title VII, FLSA, FMLA, ADA, ADEA, OSHA, ERISA benefits, non-compete agreements, individual employment contracts, tort claims and FLSA collective actions. The FLSA cases generally center on overtime, exempt classification and hours worked. The statutory discrimination claims involve race, sex, religion, color, national origin, age, disability, harassment, retaliation and wrongful discharge. The FMLA claims focus on notice issues, qualification for leave and reinstatement to an equivalent position. The ERISA issues generally involve denial of benefit claims under a health care plan. Employment contract claims usually involve severance pay, non-compete agreements, breach of confidentiality, bonuses and stock options. Employment tort claims include invasion of privacy, defamation, and battery.
With respect to commercial matters, the issues involve franchise disputes focusing on breach of contract, termination, royalty payments, non-compete agreements and software disputes involving adequacy of deliverables and breach of specifications.
Personal injury claims include coverage issues, negligence claims, automobile collisions as well as claims against non-subscribers to the Texas Workers’ Compensation Act.
Statement of Mediation Philosophy
Each mediation is unique. For example, the issues in dispute, the nature of the parties, the magnitude of the matters, the flexibility of the parties and the parties’ familiarity and experience with the mediation process itself. The experience, preparation and goals of the parties, therefore, drive the role of the mediator. Some parties need or desire an evaluation of the relative merits of their position—a reality check. Some counsel need assistance in urging their clients to adopt a spirit of negotiation and to understand the expense and risks of taking their disputes to trial instead of settling their differences through mediation. Some need to identify possible solutions. Others only need assistance in communicating their position clearly to the opposing side. The mediator provides a buffer that facilitates a settlement acceptable to all parties, when beforehand there were hardened and extreme positions, failures to communicate, failures to understand, or failures to trust.
Professional Associations and Panel Rosters
American Arbitration Association
Association of Attorney Mediators (Past President, North Texas Chapter)
Mediation Training
American Arbitration Association, Mediation Training 5/89
Dallas Bar Association, Mediation Training 6/89
Association of Attorney Mediators, Mediation Training 7/89
Dallas Bar Association, Mediation Training 11/89
Association of Attorney Mediators, Mediation Training 4/91
Dallas Bar Association, Mediation Training 7/91
Attorney Mediators Institute, Mediation Training 10/91
Dallas Bar Association, Mediation Training 6/92
Attorney Mediators Institute, Mediator Training 9/92
Attorney Mediators Institute, Mediator Training 10/92
Attorney Mediators Association, Advanced Mediator Training 2/93
Dallas Bar Association, Mediator Training 2/94
State Bar of Texas, Advanced Negotiations 9/94
SMU Resolving Workplace Disputes 6/98
Dallas Bar Association, Mediation and Ethics 8/98
Dallas Bar Association, ADR Update 3/99
Dallas Bar Association, Advanced Mediation Training 5/00
Dallas Bar Association, Mediation Update 1/01
American Arbitration Association, ADR 2001 2/01
Association of Attorney Mediators, Advanced Mediator Training 11/01
Association of Attorney Mediators, Advanced Mediator Training 11/02
American Arbitration Association, Developments in International ADR 11/02
American Arbitration Association, Neutrals Conference 3/04
Association of Attorney Mediators, Advanced Mediator Training 4/04
Dallas Bar Association, Civil Collaborative Dispute Resolution 3/05
Texas Bar Association, ADR Seminar 10/06
Texas Mediator Credentialing Association, 2nd Annual Symposium Promoting Quality of Practice 11/06
Texas Bar Association, ADR Seminar 10/07
Association of Attorney Mediators, Advanced Mediator Training 11/07
Association of Attorney Mediators, Early Neutral Evaluation 3/08
Association of Attorney Mediators, Advanced Mediator Training 4/09 American Arbitration Association, Advanced Mediator Training 10/09
Association of Attorney Mediators, Employment Disputes 4/10
American Arbitration Association, Myth of Mediator as Settlement Broker 11/10
American Arbitration Association, What Attorneys and their Clients Want Most from Mediators, 11/10
Dallas Bar Association, Performance Intelligence for the Mediator's Mind 2/11
Association of Attorney Mediators, 25 Years of Change in Mediation 5/11
American Arbitration Association, Ethics of "Better, Faster, Cheaper" ADR 3/11
Association of Attorney Mediators, The Art of the Short Mediation Session 7/11
Association of Attorney Mediators, Advanced Mediator Training 9/11
Association of Attorney Mediators, Negotiation Skills in Mediation 5/12
Association of Attorney Mediators, What I Wish My Mediators Knew 7/12
Association of Attorney Mediators, Inside View of Mediation 9/12
Dallas Bar Association, Negotiating Case Value 10/12
Association of Attorney Mediators, Expansion of Mediation 9/13
Texas Mediator Credentialing Association, Negotiating Skills in Mediation 10/13
Faculty, American Arbitration Association 4/90
Faculty, Attorney Mediators Institute 1/92
Faculty, Attorney Mediators Institute 3/92
Faculty, Arkansas Bar Association Little Rock 4/93
Faculty, Employment Mediation Federal Bar Association New Orleans 5/93
Faculty, Employment Mediation SMU 5/95
Faculty, Attorney Mediators Institute 5/96
Faculty, Basic Mediator Training 11/96