Arbitration

When the parties need a decision rather than a settlement.

Most of my practice is mediation. Some disputes call for a private decision-maker instead: the contract requires it, the parties want a faster and more confidential process than a courthouse offers, or a mediation has narrowed the case to a single question that someone has to decide. I sit as a sole arbitrator or on a three-member panel, under the rules the parties select. Twenty years of trying commercial and intellectual property cases to state and federal juries means I know how to run an evidentiary hearing, rule on what matters, and write an award that holds up.

What I arbitrate

Commercial and business

Contract and payment disputes, partnership and shareholder claims, business divorces, vendor and distribution agreements.

Employment

Claims under employment agreements and arbitration programs, non-competes and non-solicitation covenants, separation and compensation disputes.

Intellectual property

Licensing and royalty disputes, trade secret claims between commercial parties, technology and services agreements.

Real estate and construction

Purchase and lease disputes, commercial landlord-tenant matters, and construction-adjacent claims under contracts that call for arbitration.

Single-issue references

A discrete question carved out of a broader settlement, such as a valuation, an earn-out, or a contract interpretation, decided on a short record.

Med-arb by agreement

If both parties want the same neutral to mediate first and decide what remains, I will do it, but only on a written agreement that both sides have read, and after I have explained the tradeoffs.

How an arbitration runs

Appointment

Conflicts and disclosures first

By agreement of the parties, under a clause, or from an administering organization's list. Before I accept, I run a conflict check and make written disclosures, and either side can raise a concern before we go further.

First weeks

Preliminary conference and scheduling order

A short call with counsel to set the shape of the case: discovery limits, exchange dates, dispositive motions if any, the hearing date, and the deadline for the award. The order is written so nobody has to guess what comes next.

The hearing

Evidence, rulings, a clean record

In person in the DFW area or by Zoom. Witnesses are sworn, exhibits are admitted or excluded on the record, and objections get rulings. Proportionate to the amount in dispute, but run like a trial, because that is what it is.

The award

Reasoned, on time, enforceable

A written, reasoned award on the deadline set at the outset, unless the parties ask for a bare award. Awards are enforceable under the Texas Arbitration Act and the Federal Arbitration Act, and are written to survive a motion to vacate.

Fees and how to start

Arbitration is billed by the hearing day or by the hour, plus study and travel time, rather than at the mediation flat rate. Current rates are on the fee schedule, and the engagement letter sets them out before any work begins.

To start, email katie@kbwpllc.com with the arbitration clause, the names of the parties and counsel for a conflict check, and a short description of the dispute. I will respond with disclosures and a proposal.

Have a dispute that needs a decision?

Email me the clause →