Mediation

Deborah is an established mediator recognized for her talent in working creatively to move parties towards beneficial solutions. She is particularly adept at unraveling complex scenarios and for adroitly handling sensitive matters, including high publicity cases.

Deborah’s efficacy derives in large part from her experience as a Texas Supreme Court Justice, appellate lawyer, and ADR practitioner, all of which has contributed to her fluency with manifold legal issues in many different industries. Because of this foundation, Deborah conducts mediations in a broad range of areas, including:

  • Business relationship and partnership disputes
  • Business torts
  • Catastrophic injury and mass torts
  • Class actions
  • Complex commercial transactions of all types
  • Construction cases
  • Employment matters, including executive contracts, federal and state statutory claims such as ERISA, FLSA, USERRA, age, gender, race and disability discrimination, sexual harassment, and trade secrets issues
  • Government contracts and public interest issues
  • Healthcare disputes
  • Insurance contract and coverage disputes
  • Oil and gas controversies of all types

Details

Deborah conducts mediations at her office in Dallas or at other locations that may be more convenient for the participants. She is available to travel throughout Texas, nationally, and internationally to conduct mediations.

Contact us for specific information on fees. The standard mediation fee covers the session, as well as a review of a reasonable number of documents and brief pre-mediation conferences as necessary. The fee is allocated between or among the parties.

Approach

During every mediation, Deborah functions as a facilitator, evaluator, and problem-solver. She is flexible in the tools she employs during the mediation process, but always focuses on getting the parties to listen to and absorb each other’s positions, which maximizes the probability of reaching a positive resolution that benefits all.

Process

In most instances, Deborah’s mediation process begins with a request that each party submit a written mediation statement, together with key documents and select case materials. When appropriate, Deborah is available for a preliminary conference with each party before the mediation.

Mediations typically are scheduled for one (1) day. Multi-day mediations are available for large, complex cases. For very large matters, Deborah frequently schedules preparation conferences, which are conducted by phone, video, or in person, followed by multiple mediation sessions that take place in a strategic and methodical fashion.

When mediation does not lead to a full settlement, Deborah makes it a practice to check in once with each party within seven (7) to thirty (30) days following the mediation to determine if further progress towards settlement has been made and to jointly assess whether a continuation of the mediation would be useful

Mediation Follow-Up Program

Deborah’s Mediation Follow-Up Program is a formal service where she proactively follows case developments after a mediation has concluded. This allows her to opportunistically continue to provide facilitative input and ideas to the parties, usually by phone or email, for purposes of promoting negotiation and settlement.

This Program is particularly useful when a matter is close to settlement at the end of a mediation, when it is apparent that post-mediation discovery or motion practice may cause the position of one or more of the parties to change, and in situations when there is a premium placed on settling the case for precedential or other reasons. There is an additional hourly charge applicable to this Program.

Mediation-Related Consulting

As part of her consulting practice, Deborah works with clients to prepare for mediations, including brainstorming on key issues and reviewing mediation statements from a strategic standpoint prior to submission. She also is available to provide input on ongoing negotiations in real time during a mediation, whether in person or by phone.

AAA Mediations

Deborah serves on the American Arbitration Association (AAA)’s Master Mediator Panel for commercial and construction disputes. Further information on engaging her for an AAA-administered mediation is available at https://www.adr.org/.