Houston & Fort Worth Mediation Lawyers

Serving Clients through Mediation in Civil Disputes

In regard to legal disputes, mediation is a route to settling issues between disputing parties outside of the courtroom. This is called an “alternate dispute resolution” process because it gives both sides the opportunity to voluntarily negotiate a mutually agreed-upon settlement as opposed to having the issue decided by a court. In today’s society, litigation has become rampant, clogging the courts, resulting in long delays for civil trials. These trials are extremely time-consuming, expensive, stressful, and their results are fraught with uncertainty. They leave all of the decisions regarding your issue to a judge and/or jury whom you have never met and do not know.

Attorneys Keith Morris & Stacy Kelly provide mediation services to clients facing various types of family and civil matters. Our attorneys can assist you in devising a mediation plan, helping you to understand the process, how it works, and what to expect as the process takes place. Mediation occurs through various steps; we can act as your legal advisor throughout the proceedings. With 20 years of experience in negotiation, mediation, and litigation practice, we are well-versed in what it takes to complete a successful mediation process to resolve disputes outside of the civil court system. This saves you time, money, frustration, and worry.

How Does Mediation Work?

For some disputes, the only way to resolve them is through litigation. However, for many others, mediation can result in a faster route to conclusion that gives you a measure of control that you will not have in a courtroom. Mediation is a form of “supercharged” negotiation as it uses a trained neutral party whose job is to facilitate constructive communication between the disputing parties.

A multi-step process is generally used to structure the mediation process, such as making a clear statement of the problem, gathering information about the issues, clearly identifying the problems that are disputed by both sides, coming up with agreeable options, bargaining and negotiating solutions, and reaching a settlement that both sides can agree on. Throughout this process, both sides can meet privately with the mediator as well as jointly with all parties present.

Attorneys Keith Morris & Stacy Kelly can assist you in the mediation of conflicts, such as the following:

• Probate disputes involving family members and other interested parties.
• Will contests.
• Trust disputes, involving trust administration.
• Breach of fiduciary duty in civil matters, including business/commercial disputes.
• Guardianship disputes.
• Partnership disputes.
• Shareholder disputes.
• Business dissolution disputes.
• Noncompete violation disputes.
• Trustee disputes.

We can help you initiate the mediation of a civil case before any lawsuit is filed. This enables you to present your case to the mediator before the cost of litigation even begins. The mediation of a case is minimal in comparison to the expenses involved through all the phases of a lawsuit. Those costs can include jury fees, expert witness costs, court reporter costs, extensive attorney fees, and other expenses that could exceed the monetary amount that lies at the heart of a dispute. Furthermore, litigated cases depend on court schedules that take place over weeks, months, or even years, depending on the complexity of the case.

In cases where the dispute is not resolved through mediation, you will be advised as to your options. You may wish to take some time off and meet again at a later date, engage in arbitration if appropriate, or move forward to litigation.

Let Us Help You with Mediation

Attorneys Keith Morris & Stacy Kelly believe that mediation is a positive method that can be used to resolve disputes. Our firm is dedicated to helping you achieve favorable results through this alternative method.

Call us at (713) 636-5339 in Houston and (817) 442-2048 in Fort Worth to discuss your mediation options today.