Mediation and Arbitration Services
Mediation Services
Experience and Approach. Christopher Nolland has developed a national reputation as an extraordinarily proactive mediator. He has been a mediator since 1993 and has conducted over 3,000 mediations, primarily involving complex business and commercial matters as well as fiduciary litigation, professional liability disputes, and insolvency litigation. Mr. Nolland is in high demand and typically conducts well over 100 full day and multi-day mediations each year. Nolland's mediation practice focuses on large, complex, multifaceted disputes. He is a member of the AAA Panel of Mediators. Mr. Nolland is regularly quoted as an authority on ADR by leading business publications.
Christopher Nolland is often engaged in the most protracted and difficult cases - cases with significant economic or business stakes, difficult personalities (either the clients or counsel or both), sophisticated and nuanced legal, factual, financial and business issues, and histories of settlement intransigence or denial of litigation realities. Mr. Nolland is known for immersing himself in the case and for his robust post-mediation follow-on activities until the case is resolved or any opportunity to do so is exhausted.
Types of Cases. Mr. Nolland has extensive experience in mediating virtually every kind of significant commercial and business dispute, including: core bankruptcy and other insolvency related matters (such as plan confirmation issues, fraudulent conveyance claims, other adversary proceedings, and post-confirmation litigation); note and lender cases; trade secret, patent, and intellectual property cases; software and implementation disputes; probate, trust, and estate litigation; securities cases; legal, accounting and other professional malpractice cases; D&O litigation; significant product liability and personal injury cases; significant employment matters including sex, age, or race discrimination, wrongful termination, and FLSA cases; franchise or license litigation; lender liability cases; construction cases; significant commercial landlord/tenant disputes; partnership and corporate oppression disputes; class actions; and insurance coverage litigation.
Conducting In Person, Zoom, and Hybrid Mediations. With the world largely returning to normal, Mr. Nolland regularly conducts In Person mediations. He does call for the participants' commitment to not attend if they are ill or had a known recent COVID exposure. Even as we all adjust to the "new normal", Mr. Nolland is seeing continued substantial demand for remote mediation or hybrid remote/in person mediation because of its effectiveness, the ease of scheduling, convenience for the participants, and the savings in travel time and costs. Perhaps even more significantly, remote or hybrid mediation allows full and direct participation by ultimate decision-makers and other stakeholders who would not otherwise attend mediation in person. Remote mediation can also eliminate the time pressures of travel or other commitments that might cause the mediation to end or adjourn prematurely.
Mr. Nolland has conducted hundreds of remote mediations and arbitration hearings via Zoom with as many as a dozen distinct parties/counsel and over 40 participants in separate breakout rooms. Those mediations and arbitration hearings have been fulsome and extremely effective with settlement rates as high or higher than traditional in person mediation. Mr. Nolland is highly proficient in conducting remote mediations and has co-authored a Zoom Mediation Resource Guide with his colleagues. That Zoom Resource Guide is available for download in the link below.
Scheduling. In addition to normal business days, Mr. Nolland is often available to mediate cases on the weekends to accommodate special scheduling needs of the parties or the court. He mediates cases pending in locales throughout the nation and internationally. A link to Mr. Nolland's on line mediation calendar is available here.
Mediation Fees. Mr. Nolland's typical mediation fees range from $4,500 - $6,500 per party, per day for full-day mediations depending on the character and size of the case - although the mediation fee per party may be higher or lower depending on the dynamics, nature and complexity of the case, the number of parties involved and their respective positions in the dispute, the dollar amount in play by way of claims, counterclaims or the like, any non-monetary relief sought, the seriousness and magnitude of the matters at issue, and other factors which may impact the amount of time necessary to conduct the mediation, preparation for the mediation, and for any post-mediation follow-up. The fees for a weekend or out of town mediation will be adjusted for travel costs, travel/overnight time, and the like which is included in the final quoted mediation fee. While most of the cases he mediates involve significant seven, eight or nine figure disputes, for those cases where all parties agree in advance that less than $1 Million is at issue and no non-monetary relief is being sought, Mr. Nolland's fee structure contemplates a lower mediation fee. More information is provided in his Mediation Fee Schedule available as a PDF download in the Mediation and Arbitration Downloads section below. Finally, because of the nature and magnitude of most cases he mediates, Mr. Nolland declines half day mediations and typically suggests another mediator whose practice is better suited to that strata of cases.
Court Admissions. Mr. Nolland is licensed to practice before the U.S. Supreme Court, the U.S. Courts of Appeal for the 2nd, 4th and 5th Circuits, the U.S. District Courts for the Northern and Eastern Districts of Texas and for the Northern, Southern and Eastern Districts of New York, the Texas Supreme Court and all State Courts in Texas and New York.
Schedule a Mediation
Contact my Assistant, Kristy Thompson, by email at kristy@nolland.com or by phone at: (214) 653-4348.
The most efficient way to check Mr. Nolland's current availability and request a mediation date is by clicking on the online calendar link below.
Please note that the calendar changes daily or even more frequently. Accordingly, please confirm the availability of a particular date with my office before going firm on the date with clients, opposing counsel, or other participants.
Arbitration Services
Experience. Chris Nolland has served as an arbitrator in cases throughout Texas and the United States. Mr. Nolland typically is involved in two or three arbitration cases each year as an arbitrator, either as a sole arbitrator or as one member of a three-member arbitration panel, including cases where all three panel members are selected by an arbitration organization as well as those situations where the parties each appoint an arbitrator and the party-appointed arbitrators select the third arbitrator. He is a member of the AAA Panel of Arbitrators.
Arbitration Fees. Mr. Nolland's arbitration fees are typically $8,000 per day for hearings and study time, although the arbitration fee may be higher or lower depending on, among other factors, the nature, magnitude, and complexity of the case, the anticipated length and scheduling of the hearings, and whether the hearings will be out of town and involve extensive travel and overnight commitments. The daily arbitration fee will be provided at the beginning of the arbitration engagement. In addition to the quoted arbitration fee, the parties are responsible to reimburse any travel and other external expenses. Arbitration fees and expenses are split evenly among the parties unless otherwise agreed and require an advance deposit prior to any hearing and the issuance of an award. Arbitration fees are prorated for any half day arbitral proceedings or hearings or partial day study time sessions. The daily arbitration rate is normally reduced for travel days for out of town arbitrations if not utilized for study time.
No Nickel and Diming. Mr. Nolland typically does not charge for intermittent arbitration related activities that require an hour or so of his time in a single day, such as status or scheduling conferences, emails or other communications with counsel, routine administrative tasks, or even simple discovery hearings. Mr. Nolland generally does not consider cancellation fees for arbitrations unless the arbitration is cancelled within two weeks of the hearing for those matters scheduled for less than a week of hearings (four weeks for matters scheduled for a week or more) and those booked days cannot be utilized for other matters. Even then, Mr. Nolland is reluctant in the extreme to apply a cancellation fee and will consider the totality of the circumstances and consult with counsel where necessary in determining whether a cancellation fee is fair to both the parties and to Mr. Nolland and the appropriate amount of such fee.
