KBW Alternative Dispute Resolution

Pieces in place. Peace of mind.

Finding the appropriate settlement value before a jury decides for you is the entire job. Every case is its own puzzle, and the pieces sit in different rooms. I've spent twenty years working from both of those rooms. Now I sit between them.

Plaintiff's demand Settlement Defense offer

Katherine Bandy Weber, mediator in Dallas, Texas

Katherine B. Weber · Mediator and Arbitrator, Dallas

Katherine “Katie” Bandy Weber

I tried commercial and intellectual property cases to Texas state and federal juries for more than twenty years. My experience as an advocate prepared me well to take appointments as a neutral. That background is the reason counsel call me: I have read the position statements from your chair, and I know which arguments survive a Daubert motion and which ones a jury will simply not care about.

My docket included technology, online education, real estate, trade secret, trademark, and copyright fights. I also represented plaintiffs and defendants in contract and partnership disputes (business divorces). I have handled personal injury litigation on both the plaintiff’s side and the insurance defense side. I handled numerous family law cases through the Dallas Volunteer Attorney Program. More recently I have served as a Title IX hearing officer and adjudicator of equal opportunity complaints at the University of North Texas, and I teach as an adjunct. That work is the same discipline as mediation: get the record straight, hear people out completely, and reach a defensible result without theater.

I mediate in person in the DFW area at a mutually agreeable location and by Zoom nationwide. Sessions are flat rate, so you don't spend the afternoon watching the clock.

Law school

J.D., cum laude
SMU Dedman School of Law, 2004

Undergraduate

B.A., Psychology
The University of Texas at Austin

Licensed

State Bar of Texas, 2004

Mediation credential

Certified mediator, State of Texas

Service

Dallas Bar Association, Pro Bono Activities Committee · Co-Lead Chair, Bench Bar Conference

What I mediate

I take most civil disputes: two-party or multi-party, pre-suit or on the eve of trial. The areas below are where my docket ran deepest. They are a starting point, not a limit. If your case doesn't fit neatly into one of them, call anyway. I'll tell you honestly whether I'm the right neutral, and if I'm not, I'll help you find one at no charge.

Commercial & Business

Breach of contract, partnership and shareholder disputes, business divorce, fraud claims, vendor and distribution fights.

Intellectual Property

Trade secret misappropriation, trademark and copyright infringement, licensing disputes, departing-employee cases.

Employment

Discrimination and retaliation claims, non-competes, wage disputes, internal investigations that have hardened into litigation.

Technology & Education

Software contract disputes, data and platform disagreements, disputes involving colleges and online providers.

Real Estate

Purchase and lease disputes, commercial landlord-tenant matters, brokerage and construction-adjacent claims.

Probate & Fiduciary

Will contests, disputes among beneficiaries, trustee and executor disagreements, and related fiduciary claims.

Family Law

Divorce, property division, conservatorship and possession schedules, and enforcement and modification disputes. More about family law mediation.

Personal Injury

Auto and trucking collisions, premises liability, and other negligence claims, with experience on both the plaintiff and insurance defense sides.

I also sit as an arbitrator when the parties need a decision rather than a settlement. About arbitration.

Title IX and campus disputes, including informal resolution, have their own page. About Title IX.

Flat rate, per side

The flat fee covers the whole engagement. I don't send an invoice after the fact for time spent reading your file or calling you the following week. Current rates are on the fee schedule. The rate for your session is confirmed in the scheduling letter, fee agreement, and intake form, within 24 hours of your request.

Session · flat rate per side

Format

Full day

9:00 to 5:00, working lunch

In person · By Zoom

Half day

9:00 to 1:00, or 1:00 to 5:00

Settlement conference

Two hours, limited-issue cases

In person · By Zoom

What the fee covers

The fee covers reading position statements and exhibits, pre-mediation calls with counsel, the session itself, drafting assistance on the mediated settlement agreement, and follow-up with both sides if we don't close in the room. A side is any party that requires its own breakout room.

In-person sessions include conference space, parking, and lunch on full days, anywhere within fifteen miles of downtown Dallas; sessions farther out are quoted when we schedule. Sessions running later than 5:00 may incur an hourly rate. Cancellations more than three business days out are free; within three business days they are nonrefundable but may be applied to a rescheduled date.

How a full day runs

A full day typically reflects the schedule below. If your case has unique needs (for example, separate rooms from the start, no joint session, or an expert presentation), say so and we'll build the day around it.

Week out

Position statements

Send me everything you want me to read, confidential or shared. Ten pages is plenty. Tell me what your client actually needs, which is often not what the pleadings say.

Morning

Arrival, caucus, and the shuttle

Each side gets its own room. I start with the party that has the most to explain, and I listen before I push on anything. Then offers start to move, and so does information. Most of the real work is testing each side's theory of what a jury does with the facts they'd rather not discuss.

Afternoon / early evening

The hard part, then terms on paper

Lunch is brought in for everyone, because momentum is the scarcest thing in the room and momentum drives resolution. The afternoon is where most cases stall or settle; the last two pieces are always the hardest to fit. If we're genuinely at impasse, I'll tell you plainly rather than waste your time. We draft and sign a mediated settlement agreement before anyone leaves for the day. Under Texas law an MSA that meets the statute's requirements is binding, so we get the terms right in the room.

Afterward

Follow-up

If we don't close, I keep working the phones at no additional charge. A meaningful number of cases settle within two weeks following the session.

Common questions

How does mediation work in Texas?

A neutral third party helps both sides work toward a resolution neither side can order on their own. Mediation communications are confidential under Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code § 154.073, so what's said in the room stays out of the courtroom if the case doesn't settle. Most sessions run a full or half day, with each side caucusing separately while I move between rooms as offers and information develop.

What's the difference between mediation and arbitration?

Mediation is voluntary and non-binding until both sides agree to specific terms. As a mediator I have no power to decide the outcome, only to help the parties find one. Arbitration is closer to a private trial: the arbitrator hears the evidence and issues a binding award, whether or not either side likes it. I serve in both roles; see the arbitration page for how that engagement works. Most civil cases in Texas go to mediation first, often because a court has ordered it or a contract requires it, before either side considers arbitration or trial.

Is a mediated settlement agreement binding in Texas?

Yes. If it meets the requirements of the Texas mediation statute, a signed mediated settlement agreement is binding, which is why the terms get drafted and signed in the room before anyone leaves. That finality is one of the main advantages of mediation over continuing to litigate: both sides walk out with an enforceable agreement rather than a handshake that can unravel later.

Check a date

Hold an open date on my schedule yourself, or email me two or three that work for all counsel with a one-line description of the case. Either way you'll have a scheduling letter, fee agreement, and intake form within 24 hours.

See open dates →

A date you pick is held tentatively until all counsel confirm and fees are paid.

Emailkatie@kbwpllc.com Phone(214) 718-0391 LinkedInKatherine Bandy Weber

Before the session

Forms

Complete the intake form for your case type before we meet. Fill it in on screen, save the PDF, and return it to katie@kbwpllc.com. Position statements are for my eyes only unless you tell me otherwise.

Intake / Position Statement Civil cases · Fillable PDF · 5 pages Download → Family Law Intake Divorce and SAPCR · Fillable PDF · 5 pages Download →

Adapted with permission from the intake form of John Shipp, Shipp ADR, Dallas. His generous license to use it is gratefully acknowledged.

A signed agreement is the last piece. What you leave with is peace of mind.